London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

Babis Anagnostopoulos: how a murderer fooled the world for months

Babis Anagnostopoulos: how a murderer fooled the world for months

The husband of Caroline Crouch tugged at heartstrings and implicated innocent foreigners while playing the part of grieving widower
Babis Anagnostopoulos: clever; photogenic; charistmatic; successful – all traits that perhaps allowed him to think he could fool the world. On Monday the game was up.

Justice caught up with the helicopter pilot who finally admitted it was he who had suffocated his British wife, Caroline Crouch, just over a year ago. And justice was unsparing. At the end of a dramatic trial, whose every twist and turn had gripped Greece, a mixed court of jurors and judges unanimously agreed that the 34-year-old should receive the toughest penalty possible under Greek law: a life sentence for the premeditated murder of his partner; a jail term of 11 years and six months for the brutal killing of the family’s pet dog; and a fine of €21,000.

Anagnostopoulos, who for almost six weeks had sought to pin the murder in the couple’s dream Athenian home on a gang of ruthless foreign thieves, will likely remain behind bars for several decades. After sentencing was passed, even his lawyer appeared to justify the judgment, saying the verdict was “expected”.

But in truth, the story of Crouch’s death has made waves precisely because it confounded expectation. At barely 20, the young mother’s tragic end struck a chord at a time when the Mediterranean nation has also been hit by a wave of femicides.

When the UK-trained pilot emerged dishevelled and distraught from the very building in suburban Athens where Caroline had taken her last breath – telling reporters he hoped no family would endure the same fate that his had been forced to bear – there was no one in Greece, or abroad, who did not sympathise.

Against a backdrop of rising crime in the capital’s suburbs, a visibly shocked civil protection minister announced a €300,000 bounty to help unearth the culprits.

As the weeks passed, with no evident breakthroughs, the story intensified – along with the public’s interest. In the role of grieving widow, Anagnostopoulos pandered to Greek fears: he wasn’t sure where the thieves were from, but he was convinced they were foreigners. Potential suspects were pulled out of police line-ups with the aviator deliberately suggesting Georgians or Albanians were behind the murder.

Other props would be used to maintain the fiction that he was a loving family man who had fallen victim to heinous crime. Attending Crouch’s funeral, he mourned by the side of her grave, clutching the couple’s baby daughter, Lydia, for more than four hours.

Weeks later, when it became clear that the doting father had in fact been the perpetrator who had placed the 11-month-old child next to her dead mother’s body, the backlash was instant. Following his shock confession, sympathy turned into shock and then revulsion.

Across the country, Greeks felt hoodwinked, not only by Anagnostopoulos’ lies and hypocrisy, but by the knowledge that, like the police, they had been fooled by a consummate actor who had played on their deepest fears.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×