A Greek pilot on trial for the murder of his British wife broke down in tears as the court heard extracts from her diary which detailed their violent relationship.
The court in Athens was told Caroline Crouch had written of wanting to end her marriage to Babis Anagnostopoulos but had fallen pregnant and did not want their child to grow up with both parents.
She later told Anagnostopoulos in July 2020, when their baby was a month old, that she wanted to break up.
The 33-year-old is accused of smothering to death Ms Crouch, 20, at their family home in an Athens suburb in May 2021, and also killing the couple’s puppy and staging a fake burglary in a bid to cover-up his crime. He has admitted killing his wife but denies premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.
One diary entry read by the judge stated: “I fought with Babi again. This time it was serious.
“I hit him, I cursed at him and he broke down the door.
“All I wanted was for him to ask how I am when I woke up. I woke up so weak and tired.”
Mr Anagnostopoulos began to cry at this, according to the Daily Mail.
The pilot is scheduled to give evidence on Wednesday.
Anagnostopoulos originally told police he was tied up by four robbers who put a gun to his child’s head, strangled his wife, and then got away with £10,000 in cash. However police found that examination of mobile devices, a smartwatch with a heart rate monitor used by Crouch, and cameras, had established a timeline that contradicted with the pilot’s testimony.
He later admitted to the killing claiming to have acted in a fit of rage after his wife threatened to leave, taking their 11-month-old daughter.
As the trial resumed on Tuesday after a three-week break during the Greek Orthodox Easter, Anagnostopoulos was led into court surrounded by armed police officers.
Last month his wife’s counsellor Eleni Mylonopoulou told a court in Athens that Ms Crouch had been receiving therapy for six months before her visits suddenly stopped after 12 sessions.
“It was when Caroline started to notice his frequent Sunday absences,” Mylonopoulou said in evidence.
Ms Crouch’s therapist told the court that the Briton’s suspicions of infidelity came at “a pivotal moment” and that she started becoming “fearful” of her husband”.
The court also heard from a number of witnesses from an animal association which helped Ms Crouch adopt her dog Roxy.
Lawyer Evangelia Tsanopoulou, who is prosecuting Anagnostopoulos on the charge of killing the animal said: “The killing of Roxy was the action of a cold-blooded hitman. He used the dog to help stage a scene that burglars had carried out the crime.
“He killed the dog because he wanted to kill all that was associated with Caroline, who loved Roxy dearly. And he did this in the cruellest way by hanging her pet.”
The trial continues on Wednesday.
