12 March 2024 , 19:55
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A Greek pilot was found guilty of murdering his British wife after smartwatch data ripped apart his fabricated timeline.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, 36, suffocated and killed the 20-year-old mother of his child and then slaughtered her rescue pooch in an attempt to make his alibi about a home invasion more credible. Caroline Crouch was found dead on her bed beside her 11-month-old baby girl, who was alive, in May 2021.
She had been murdered in the early hours of the morning in their wealthy suburb of Athens, Greece, and her husband initially told the police a gang of foreign burglars had broken into their home and tied them both up. Tonight, a Channel 5 documentary titled Death in Paradise: The Murder of Caroline Crouch uncovers the harrowing truth.
Caroline's smartwatch revealed the exact time she 'died in extreme stress' - before the fabricated home invasion began (Instagram)Earlier that night, Caroline and her husband had a blazing row over their daughter, Lydia, and he fell asleep downstairs. He woke up in the middle of the night and headed upstairs to reconcile, but Caroline didn't want apologise, he said. It was at this point that Anagnostopoulos climbed on top of her despite her rejections.
In a "boiling state of mind", he held a hand over his wife's mouth and a pillow over her face and listened to her desperate muffled screams. After suffocating her, he "started crying" and pacing the room and pulling his hair when he realised Caroline was dead. Their daughter lay unharmed next to her.
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He made up the botched robbery scenario on the spot, claiming he did so because he didn't want to go to prison and was concerned their daughter would lose her family. To make the lie seem more believable, he resorted to killing their defenceless dog Roxy, because he feared no one would believe him if the scene "wasn't violent".
Caroline had rescued her beloved pet pooch from an animal sanctuary in Glyka Nera in December 2020. Anagnostopoulos said he thought slaying the animal was the "only way" to convince investigators. He picked up the dog and "tied it to the bannister" then went into the kitchen so he couldn't see. He said it "cried for a few seconds".
Anagnostopoulos told the police that raiders had restrained him and shoved him under the bed. He also claimed the tape tied around his neck constricted his airways and that he had lost consciousness. But by analysing data on the husband and wife's smartwatches, investigators were able to piece together the real timeline.
Anagnostopoulos was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 for murdering his wife and her rescue dog in their home (AFP via Getty Images)They learned Anagnostopoulos had been active when he claimed to be unconscious. More tragic evidence was extracted from the fitness tracker that Caroline wore around her wrist. It showed her pulse raced by 50 percent for five minutes and "died in extreme stress".
Her heart had stopped beating long before Anagnostopoulos said she was tortured in the burgled home invasion. It was concluded that "the death process took place from 4.05am to 4.11am". This time gap gave the sick killer the opportunity to stage the robbery, hang the dog and fabricate the story about an Albanian crime gang that cops had been searching for recently.
The pilot also told cops that the security camera had been tampered with, but after obtaining the memory card, they found it had been removed at 1.20am. This made his claim that the gang broke in five hours later even less credible.
Police also found a diary belonging to Caroline with entries that implied an unhappy and violent marriage where she made attempts to leave him. She allegedly said she would leave Anagnostopoulos when their baby was a month old. Caroline was a black belt kickboxer and other comments include fights between them and one where she "hit him and broke down a door".
In May 2022, Anagnostopoulos was handed life in prison for Caroline's death, with an extra 11-and-a-half years added on for murdering her puppy. He was sentenced to 27 and a half years in total.
- Death in Paradise: The Murder of Caroline Crouch airs on Channel 5 at 10pm tonight.