In the early hours of May 11, 2021, a gagged and bound man alerted ‘Immediate Action” about a violent robbery that took place at his home in Glyka Nera, where he lived with his wife and their 11-month-old daughter.
Charalambos Anagnostopoulos, 34, tearfully described to the police the horrific moments he experienced from the time the three robbers entered the house until they left, leaving behind his 20-year-old wife, Caroline Kraut, and the little dog she had adopted.
A month later, on June 16, the 34-year-old pilot was transported by helicopter from Alonnisos to the Attica General Police Directorate. The police waited for the 20-year-old’s memorial service to end before bringing in Anagnostopoulos, who just seconds earlier had been weeping in his mother-in-law’s arms. They had a great deal of evidence in their possession. Six hours later, the pilot confessed that no robbery had taken place at his home and that he himself had suffocated Caroline to death following an argument they’d had, and that he had hanged Roxy— the little dog that the 20-year-old had adopted.
Today, the 34-year-old man, who has been held for 10 months at Korydallos Prison, will stand before the judges of the Mixed Jury Court, who will hear his case regarding the crime he has confessed to committing against the 20-year-old mother of his child, who is a British citizen. Caroline suffered a slow, “agonizing” death as she struggled to breathe for six full minutes. The young woman was found with a piece of cloth wrapped around her neck, tied behind her back, with her baby sleeping against her back.
The 34-year-old faces felony charges of intentional homicide committed while in a calm state of mind and animal cruelty, as well as two misdemeanor charges relating to false accusation, for having made others suspects in his own crimes, and repeated false testimony.
Starting today, the pilot, with the help of his defense team, will fight to have the charge of murdering the 20-year-old dismissed, the circumstance acknowledged in the indictment: that he committed the crime while in a calm state of mind.
The defendant will attempt to convince the judges that the crime was committed in the heat of the moment, that he was severely provoked and reacted instinctively to “Caroline’s aggressive behavior toward the child”, that he did not plan anything in advance, and that “other events triggered the situation,” as he stated in the defense brief he submitted to the investigating judge on June 22 of last year, a few hours before he was ultimately remanded in custody.
Starting today, however, the 20-year-old’s family will also make its own stand, their own battle against the heinous act that cut short Caroline’s life—she passed away beside her little girl. The Crouch family will fight to ensure the harshest possible sentence is imposed on the man who, for 37 days, “mocked” everyone while mourning the death of his great love. The victim’s family does not accept that what happened on that fateful night at the house in Glyka Nera was the result of a “momentary outburst.” On the contrary, they believe the crime is correctly described in the indictment as “premeditated and staged.” As one of the Krautches“ defense attorneys said after the 34-year-old’s plea, ”when a crime is committed in the heat of the moment, the perpetrator turns himself in; he doesn’t try to fool the authorities.”.
“He planned and orchestrated the crime”
According to the referral order issued by Charalambos Anagnostopoulos, who accepted the referral proposal submitted by Prosecutor George Noulis, the 34-year-old pilot is a “harsh and callous individual” who had isolated his 20-year-old wife, even controlling her movements. The victim, it is reported, experienced her relationship with the man—thirteen years her senior, who had charmed her a few years earlier—as “imprisonment.”.
According to the prosecutor, the husband planned the crime in advance, and that evening, following an argument with his 20-year-old wife, “he decided to carry out his plan to kill his wife—a plan he had been nurturing in his mind for some time—with the aim of ridding himself of her presence and being left alone with their child.”.
The judges of the Council detail, step by step, the actions of the 34-year-old defendant before, but especially after, the crime, with the aim of covering his tracks and convincing the court that Caroline was the victim of the burglars who broke into their home.
“The five-minute duration of the victim’s suffocation, the premeditated disabling of the home’s security camera, the element of surprise for the unsuspecting victim, the premeditated staging of a robbery against him, and the premeditated attempt to mislead law enforcement,” according to the judges who indicted the 34-year-old, who noted the defendant’s completely calm state of mind. As noted, “the thoroughness of the relevant «staging» both after the homicide was committed and before it, which demonstrates that he had planned it in advance and deliberately, rather than acting on an uncontrollable impulse,” it is evident that the defendant was in full possession of his faculties. This is the conclusion reached by the ruling, which rejects any suggestion that the defendant acted in a “fit of rage.”.
The pilot claims that his actions were not intended to “get away,” but rather to ensure that his child would not suffer the consequences of the crime he committed while under the influence.
“He displayed hypocritical behavior when he appeared grief-stricken at his victim’s funeral and memorial service,” the Council accuses him, while Mr. Noulis, regarding the allegation that Anagnostopoulos was interested in his daughter, citing “the cynicism and self-interest he displayed even after confessing to his actions,” emphasizes that “he attempted to justify the false robbery scenario he concocted to avoid criminal liability by claiming it stemmed from his desire for «»his daughter to grow up at least with her father.” In other words, so that he himself could enjoy fatherhood and raising a child from whom he had violently deprived her mother since infancy.”
The Trial
The proceedings before the MOD are expected to take several court sessions before the court reaches its verdict.
Today, once the jury is selected to serve alongside the three judges, the next court dates are likely to be set, and the trial—which is number 1 on the docket, with five others follow.
On the victim's side, Caroline's mother, Susan Kraut, and two of her friends are expected to testify in court.
In total, the number of witnesses is estimated to be twenty, including the medical examiner who determined the time of death of the 20-year-old. Also included is the mental health counselor whom the couple had consulted regarding the problems they were facing after Caroline’s miscarriage. The police officers who handled the case, as well as the couple’s neighbor, will also testify.
At the same time, a member of an animal welfare association in Marathon—where Caroline had adopted her dog—will also testify in court.
According to reports, the defense will also propose individuals to serve as expert witnesses.
