Greece - Caroline Crouch, 20, Murdered, Athens, May 11, 2021

[Mrs Marple]

I guess sometimes reporting is a bit muddled.

 

[gregjrichards]

Just waking up to this shocking news. The level of violence here seems completely unnecessary, if she was shot in the middle of a robbery that would be one thing but strangulation? That must be almost unheard of. I am not aware that robberies like this are common in Greece or anywhere else for that matter. I think police need to first establish what made these people targets and if there is nothing in their background that stands out, like a link to organised crime or something then you really have to look at the relationship and how the husband seems relatively unscathed despite the horrors inflicted on his wife and the dog.

Nine Georgian citizens detained by Greek police for house robberies in Athens

Nine Georgian citizens detained by Greek police for house robberies in Athens

As you can see from the article above there are criminal gangs committing robberies in Athens in Greece. It appears to be much more common that I thought. The gang mentioned in the article above robbed 31 houses.

 

[Legally Bland]

I thought he was in a different room to his wife and baby. How could he have seen the gun to the babys head ?

I think English language papers may be getting some things mixed up with the translations.

 

[Lod76]

Was the husband attacked and tied up first? There seem to be conflicting reports but I don't know how he would know they pointed a gun at the baby's head if he was blindfolded and tied up in another room. CCTV will tell all I suppose and if these men are not picked up on CCTV you'd have to wonder if they existed at all. That said if there is a gang of depraved and violent burglars operating in the area then the public have every reason to be terrified, if things happened as described they do sound professional too. This could be the case, though it may seem unlikely and would be rare, we have had gangs operating here in the UK but they generally target celebrities houses when they are away on holidays don't they? There's no violent element to these burglaries usually but organised gang led burglaries are at least a thing.

The couple do look so happy in pictures which makes it all the more depressing and I hate to be pointing the finger at the husband after what he's been through. Recently married with a new baby there's nothing on the surface that would appear to be wrong is there?

 

[Barbieshell]

Hmmmm my hinkyometer is positively throbbing..........absolutely horrific what has happened to poor Caroline, RIP beautiful lady - I hope justice is swift for you . JMOO

 

[Kitkat28]

I don’t find the fact Caroline was sleeping in a different room particularly strange - maybe the baby wouldn’t settle or she’d been feeding her and stayed with her.

The rest of it though... I’ve watched far too many true crime shows where one half of a couple is brutally murdered and the other “escapes” with a few scratches. It always turns out to have been arranged by the un-injured party.

 

[Tiny]

So tragic and senseless. Am also cynical at this stage. If and only if there is more to come out - was the dog killed because he / she would be able to recognise the attackers?
Hope I am completely wrong - rip Caroline.

 

[RosalindaA]

I agree, there may be a lot of the story getting "lost in translation" here. The large government reward seems to indicate that police believe they are looking for a criminal gang here. Large amounts of cash in the house does make more sense in the context of the Greek economy.
The Guardian article below Greece offers €300,000 reward for killers who strangled British-born student in front of baby
mentions that CCTV is being scoured "in the belief" that the couple may have been followed for several days. I wonder if that belief comes from the husband. I'm also wondering if the "genetic material recovered" from the scene, means that sadly, Caroline was subjected to sexual assault before being murdered. This would explain why the attackers spent so much time with her and it would not be unusual (especially in more traditional countries) for this not to be disclosed by the police explicitly out of respect for the victim and her family.

It is not uncommon for burglars (although less common for "professional" burglars) to carry out a sexual assault during a home invasion and Caroline was young and attractive. The manner of strangulation with her own clothing would also suggest a sexually motivated attack. Caroline was also of Asian appearance and we know that women of Oriental appearance are "fetishized" in *advertiser censored* and sadly, owing to the pandemic, are even more subject to violence at present. Also not an unusual scenario for a man who has been employed in the home to return to carry out an assault and or a burglary on a female occcupant that they have come into contact with. It does seem here that this attack was very targeted and that the invaders knew what they are looking for. Hopefully that means there is a traceable link to the offenders.
Guardian article also mentions that Caroline's mother is believed to work in tourist industry which is a reminder of how hard-hit countries with a large tourist economy have been. The last thing the Greek government wants is international publicity about this sort of crime.

 

[Skigh]

Tragic last video of mum playing with baby weeks before being killed by burglars

 

[Skigh]

Husband of Brit murdered by burglars tells how he ‘begged’ for their lives


Has some pictures of the outside of their house.

 

[PhoebeTries]

I'm confident the reward of 300.000 will be enough for someone to come forward.

In regards to the sleeping arrangements, I took this to mean she was sleeping in a bed there. If our (hypothetical) baby were restless, my DH would always have me sleep in de master bedroom and he would sleep somewhere else. However, reporting does not exclude the scenario where she had been sleeping on a chair in the nursery and was brought to the master bed room by the perps, who tied her to the bed there. This allows for the husband to see them holding the gun to the baby's head as well.

 

[Tortoise]

"According to information, the death of the 20-year-old is due to "Airway obstruction, as a result of suffocation" .

According to the result of the necropsy - autopsy that was completed at noon on Wednesday and which was performed by a medical examiner of the medical school of the University of Athens.

The perpetrator allegedly blocked the girl's breath, with pieces of cloth , but pressing unbearably and squeezing her mouth with the palm of his hands. In fact, the cold-blooded killer allegedly blocked her nose. Thus, the 20-year-old was left breathless, resulting in a suffocating death."

Γλυκά Νερά / Τι έδειξε η ιατροδικαστική έκθεση για τον θάνατο της 20χρονης

 

[Tortoise]

"In addition to forensic evidence from the clothing of the 20-year-old and her husband and in various locations in the house, they also have video footage from security cameras in the area to determine the route they took, though the perpetrators managed to destroy an external video camera placed outside the couple’s home and a camera set up by the couple to monitor the baby inside the house."

Tragic Story of Young Mother Murdered Next to Her Baby in Greece

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14931411/burglars-tortured-brit-mum-death-dna/
''BURGLARS who tortured a Brit mum to death could be caught by DNA under her fingernails as she fought for her life.

Samples from Caroline Crouch's fingernails show evidence of her frantic struggle as she was being strangled with her t-shirt and are now being examined by investigators.''


''Another police officer quoted in Greek media claimed the gang had been identified and were well known.''

“The three robbers are professionals. They have what we call a criminal past,” said the cop.

“That is, they are marked, they have gone through prisons and as it turned out, they are people with a strong anti-social element and a complete lack of emotions.”


He said the sadistic gang “used their hands” to kill the young mum despite having weapons in what was a “prolonged physical contact” with their victim.


The officer said the killers had the opportunity to walk away but didn’t.


“This clearly shows their intention to kill. In a robbery, the question is money. It was not necessary to kill to achieve the goal.''

 

[Cryptic]

Nine Georgian citizens detained by Greek police for house robberies in Athens
As you can see from the article above there are criminal gangs committing robberies in Athens in Greece. It appears to be much more common that I thought. The gang mentioned in the article above robbed 31 houses.

Good find regarding foreign criminal gangs in Athens.

There may, however, be a different use of the word "robbed". Robbery involves the use of force. The article describes the gang using inside information from house staff and a skeleton key to enter the homes.

There is no mention of the owners being present, or the use of violence by the group. The article also states that police investigated them for three years. My guess is that if violence was being used against well off families, the group would have been rounded up far faster.

In short, it appears that this gang was burglarizing the homes. The husband related being the victim of an home invasion robbery featuring "over kill" violence despite immediate cooperation.

Though there are surely criminals in Greece capable of committing such a crime, the husband could be relating a far less common crime that seems to have been committed under strange circumstances.

 

[Satchie]

I agree, there is such carelessness in the media about the terms burglar and robber and it's my pet peeve.

A burglar steals things without involving people. A robber deliberately confronts people in order to steal from them. Big, big difference in terms of the individual's motivation and potential for violence.

I also agree with the post that suggested the media use of the word 'torture', should really be 'gang rape'.

I also agree someone knew there was money in the home, and a very attractive young woman.

 

[PhoebeTries]

So now they are saying they know who did it. I pray this is true. Only 16 hours ago they offered the reward? I thought DNA analysis doesn't work as quickly as on TV?


OT: the banner video of the inmate punching the guard makes my stomach turn every single time

 

[Patrick Jane]

My condolences to the victim's family. I hope the perps are located swiftly and brought to justice.

 

[Patrick Jane]

For those that recall the Eaton murder case on the island of Crete, Greece that we discussed here two years ago, CCTV was crucial to cracking the case. I hope that the combination of CCTV, the DNA evidence likely left at the scene, and the reward, will lead to these perps being caught.

 

[Herat]

Have we excluded the husband as being involved in this?

He seems not to have suffered any injuries