{"id":11314,"date":"2024-05-10T17:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11314"},"modified":"2024-05-10T17:00:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T14:00:21","slug":"judge-rules-thanasis-nicolaou-death-was-murder-by-strangulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11314","title":{"rendered":"Judge rules Thanasis Nicolaou death was murder by strangulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A judge on Friday ruled that Thanasis Nicolaou\u2019s death in 2005 resulted from strangulation, vindicating his family\u2019s long-held belief of foul play.<br \/>\nJudge Doria Varoshiotou attributed the death to a criminal act in a comprehensive decision.<br \/>\nThanasis\u2019 body was found under a bridge in Alassa in 2005 and his death was deemed by the army and police as a suicide. But after his remains were exhumed in 2020 over suspicions of foul play, further autopsies showed he had been beaten and strangled.<br \/>\nToday\u2019s verdict follows a lengthy inquest process marked by disagreements between expert witnesses.<br \/>\nUpon hearing the decision, relatives of the Nicolaou family who were present in the courtroom burst into applause, and Thanasis\u2019 mother, Andriana Nicolaou, exclaimed, \u201cThere is justice!&#8217;\u201d.<br \/>\nWhile acknowledging discrepancies in some testimonies, the judge emphasised the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni\u2019s evidence.<br \/>\nKaragianni\u2019s findings, based on an examination of the hyoid bone, supported strangulation as the cause of death.<br \/>\nThe judge noted, \u201cI meticulously examined the testimonies of the two key individuals, Karagiannis and Agapitou, and I reiterate that the decision will be scrutinised by them. The discrepancy between their accounts regarding the 37 tiles and their connection to Thanasis does not impact the essence of the case.\u201d<br \/>\nShe further emphasised, \u201cThe truth in the case of Thanasis was unveiled through indisputable evidence presented by Ms Karagiannis. Her scientific opinion was conveyed with clarity, and it is characteristic of her to state that she does not offer a personal opinion but instead lets the findings speak for themselves. She substantiated her references, concluding that the identified deficit was an injury caused by strangulation during life.\u201d<br \/>\nCoroner Varoshiotou acknowledged the emotional complexities of the case, highlighting the hazing Thanasis allegedly suffered during his military service.<br \/>\nThe report details the events leading up to the discovery of his body in 2005, previous investigations, and the European Court of Human Rights\u2019 (ECHR) ruling against Cyprus on the case\u2019s handling.<br \/>\nRead more:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-in-cyprus-com wp-block-embed-in-cyprus-com\"><\/figure>\n<p>strangulation. strangulation, foul play, justice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thanasis Nicolaou&#8217;s death in 2005 was ruled as resulting from strangulation by a judge, confirming his family&#8217;s belief of foul play. The decision was based on a comprehensive examination that concluded his death was a criminal act, despite initial reports of suicide by the army and police. The judge highlighted the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni&#8217;s evidence, which supported the cause of death as strangulation. Relatives of the Nicolaou family applauded the verdict in court, with Thanasis&#8217; mother expressing relief that justice had been served.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[652,4368,2458,932,21,3,2692,2853,9393,1840,7494,3343,1610,2459,654,9504,3895,115,7905,572,3866,4264,1342,6242,582,148,3504,411,183,634,184,4620,1812,4441,7967,3915,934,3042,656,114,8731,6305],"class_list":["post-11314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-army","tag-bridge","tag-connection","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-cyprus","tag-death","tag-disagreements","tag-discrepancies","tag-european-court","tag-european-court-of-human-rights","tag-events","tag-evidence","tag-family","tag-forensic","tag-foul-play","tag-hearing","tag-human-rights","tag-impact","tag-injury","tag-inquest","tag-inquest-process","tag-investigations","tag-judge","tag-justice","tag-local","tag-military","tag-military-service","tag-murder","tag-opinion","tag-police","tag-report","tag-rights","tag-service","tag-state","tag-strangulation","tag-suicide","tag-testimonies","tag-thanasis-nicolaou","tag-top-news","tag-truth","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Judge rules Thanasis Nicolaou death was murder by strangulation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thanasis Nicolaou&#039;s death in 2005 was ruled as resulting from strangulation by a judge, confirming his family&#039;s belief of foul play. The decision was based on a comprehensive examination that concluded his death was a criminal act, despite initial reports of suicide by the army and police. The judge highlighted the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni&#039;s evidence, which supported the cause of death as strangulation. Relatives of the Nicolaou family applauded the verdict in court, with Thanasis&#039; mother expressing relief that justice had been served.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judge rules Thanasis Nicolaou death was murder by strangulation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanasis Nicolaou&#039;s death in 2005 was ruled as resulting from strangulation by a judge, confirming his family&#039;s belief of foul play. The decision was based on a comprehensive examination that concluded his death was a criminal act, despite initial reports of suicide by the army and police. The judge highlighted the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni&#039;s evidence, which supported the cause of death as strangulation. Relatives of the Nicolaou family applauded the verdict in court, with Thanasis&#039; mother expressing relief that justice had been served.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-10T14:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/judge-rules-thanasis-nicolaou-death-was-murder-by-strangulation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"PhileNews (Cyprus)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"PhileNews (Cyprus)\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"PhileNews (Cyprus)\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84\"},\"headline\":\"Judge rules Thanasis Nicolaou death was murder by strangulation\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-10T14:00:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/judge-rules-thanasis-nicolaou-death-was-murder-by-strangulation.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"army\",\"bridge\",\"connection\",\"court\",\"Crime\",\"Cyprus\",\"death\",\"disagreements\",\"discrepancies\",\"European court\",\"European Court of Human Rights\",\"events\",\"evidence\",\"family\",\"forensic\",\"foul play\",\"hearing\",\"human rights\",\"impact\",\"injury\",\"inquest\",\"inquest process\",\"investigations\",\"judge\",\"justice\",\"Local\",\"military\",\"military service\",\"Murder\",\"Opinion\",\"Police\",\"report\",\"rights\",\"service\",\"state\",\"strangulation\",\"suicide\",\"testimonies\",\"Thanasis Nicolaou\",\"Top News\",\"truth\",\"WHO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Other\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314\",\"name\":\"Judge rules Thanasis Nicolaou death was murder by strangulation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/judge-rules-thanasis-nicolaou-death-was-murder-by-strangulation.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-10T14:00:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84\"},\"description\":\"Thanasis Nicolaou's death in 2005 was ruled as resulting from strangulation by a judge, confirming his family's belief of foul play. The decision was based on a comprehensive examination that concluded his death was a criminal act, despite initial reports of suicide by the army and police. The judge highlighted the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni's evidence, which supported the cause of death as strangulation. 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The decision was based on a comprehensive examination that concluded his death was a criminal act, despite initial reports of suicide by the army and police. The judge highlighted the clarity of forensic pathologist Dimitra Karagianni's evidence, which supported the cause of death as strangulation. 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