Three women were detained on Monday in connection with the suspected premeditated murder of their 30-year-old roommate, Victory Osarumen Thompson, who was found dead in their Germasogeia flat on Sunday morning.
The victim, a woman from Nigeria, suffered injuries consistent with being brutally beaten with a broomstick, investigators told the Limassol District Court.
The three suspects appeared in court where investigators from the Limassol Criminal Investigation Department (CID) requested their detention for eight days. The court approved the request after their lawyers raised no objection. The 35-year-old suspect also faces charges related to illegal residency.
Suspects claim victim was “out of control”
According to the suspects’ statements to police, the victim was in an “out of control” state when they returned to the apartment in the early hours. They claimed the victim started attacking them and that they tried to restrain her, resulting in her fatal injury.
The three women gave similar accounts, claiming they had been living and working in the flat together for the past week.
They told police they left the flat around midnight, leaving the victim alone, and returned around 05:00, accompanied by a couple. They claimed the victim was acting erratically—suspecting she had used drugs—and they tried to calm her down, using force during the attempt to restrain her.
The first suspect, aged 24, claimed she had a close relationship with the victim, having lived with her in Nicosia where the victim allegedly used various illegal drugs. They had recently moved to the Germasogeia flat in Limassol.
Accounts of the night of the murder
The case investigator told the court that, based on the statements, the suspects went to a nightclub shortly after midnight on November 8-9. Returning around 05:00, they found the victim in an “out of control” state.
The first suspect attempted to calm her down, but the victim bit her and reacted violently. The first suspect then allegedly used her hands to beat the victim, while the second suspect, aged 35, used a broomstick. A couple present also allegedly attempted to calm the victim down and used force against her.
Following the incident, the couple departed, taking the 30-year-old’s mobile phone with them. The suspects claimed they then went to bed, believing the victim had fallen asleep. At approximately 10:00, the first suspect found the victim unconscious near the bathroom, sought help from the second suspect, who attempted first aid and called an ambulance. The first suspect also allegedly cleaned the blood from the area.
The second suspect confirmed in a written statement that the victim was out of control when they returned. She admitted that she saw the victim using drugs before they left the flat. She stated the victim attacked her in her room, biting her leg. She also admitted taking a broomstick and hitting the victim, even after she had fallen.
The third suspect stated she was drunk and asleep when she returned around 05:00. She claimed she woke up at one point and saw the second suspect hitting the victim with a rod while the first suspect slapped her. She asked them to stop and attempted to tie the victim’s hands with a wire she found, as the victim was struggling and out of control.
Police are currently seeking two additional persons, for whom arrest warrants are expected to be issued once their identities are established.
Authorities plan to take 53 more statements regarding the case. A large number of items were collected as evidence, including the broken broomstick, and these will be sent for forensic examination.
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