{"id":11477,"date":"2024-05-12T02:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T23:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477"},"modified":"2024-05-12T02:00:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T23:00:38","slug":"it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477","title":{"rendered":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The murder verdict delivered yesterday by the third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou marks a turning point in this high-profile case, bringing relief to the Nicolaou family after a two-decade-long struggle for justice.<br \/>\nThanasis Nicolaou, a National Guardsman died in 2005 at the age of 26. His death was initially ruled a suicide, but his family long contended it was murder.<br \/>\nYesterday, May 10, after years of appeals and an exhumation of his remains, a judge finally ruled that Nicolaou\u2019s death was indeed a crime and that he died by strangulation.<br \/>\nSpeaking to philenews, criminal investigator Savvas Matsas expressed his satisfaction with the outcome, stating that the investigation he conducted alongside Antonis Alexopoulos, was comprehensive, objective, and fair.<br \/>\n\u201cWe reached our conclusions without any influence, and our findings are included in the report we submitted to the Attorney General for further action,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nWhen asked about the next steps, Matsas explained that yesterday\u2019s decision solely pertains to determining the cause of Thanasis\u2019 death. \u201cFor the first time, there is a decision confirming the presence of murderers. It is now up to the state to find a way, based on testimonies, to initially identify suspects. However, for a conviction, the evidence must prove beyond reasonable doubt that these suspects are indeed the perpetrators.\u201d<br \/>\nThe Nicolaou family\u2019s next steps include pursuing private criminal prosecutions against individuals implicated in the Matsas report, who are held responsible for mishandling the case as a minor offence and suicide, resulting in a flawed investigation.<br \/>\nRegarding the initiation of criminal proceedings, Matsas noted that it is entirely within the discretion of the Attorney General. \u201cThe Attorney General has stated that he will not pursue criminal charges. I do not know if he will reconsider his decision, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions, and the Attorney General has indicated that he will not withdraw them.\u201d<br \/>\nMatsas further emphasised that the coroner\u2019s inquest is scientifically well-founded in concluding that the death was a homicide. \u201cThere are perpetrators. If they want to be fair and objective, even at this late stage, they must assemble a capable and incorruptible team to thoroughly reinvestigate the case, seeking evidence and evaluating the information already held by the family. Perhaps someone will come forward with crucial information or evidence to justify prosecuting certain individuals. This is what they ought to do,\u201d he concluded.<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. murder verdict, high-profile case, justice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. The Attorney General has indicated that he will not pursue criminal charges, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions. Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[862,580,3894,4543,21,5726,1431,2692,1610,508,2459,9635,3866,1419,6242,582,148,4569,183,9634,655,2492,5425,4620,3043,7967,3915,934,3928,3042,656,114,6305],"class_list":["post-11477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-age","tag-attorney-general","tag-charges","tag-conviction","tag-crime","tag-criminal-charges","tag-criminal-proceedings","tag-death","tag-evidence","tag-exhumation","tag-family","tag-high-profile-case","tag-inquest","tag-investigation","tag-judge","tag-justice","tag-local","tag-minor","tag-murder","tag-murder-verdict","tag-national-guard","tag-national-guardsman","tag-perpetrators","tag-report","tag-satisfaction","tag-state","tag-strangulation","tag-suicide","tag-suspects","tag-testimonies","tag-thanasis-nicolaou","tag-top-news","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>It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. The Attorney General has indicated that he will not pursue criminal charges, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions. Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.\" \/>\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=\"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. The Attorney General has indicated that he will not pursue criminal charges, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions. Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"708\" \/>\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=11477#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"PhileNews (Cyprus)\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84\"},\"headline\":\"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"age\",\"attorney general\",\"charges\",\"conviction\",\"Crime\",\"criminal charges\",\"criminal proceedings\",\"death\",\"evidence\",\"Exhumation\",\"family\",\"high-profile case\",\"inquest\",\"investigation\",\"judge\",\"justice\",\"Local\",\"minor\",\"Murder\",\"murder verdict\",\"National Guard\",\"national guardsman\",\"perpetrators\",\"report\",\"satisfaction\",\"state\",\"strangulation\",\"suicide\",\"suspects\",\"testimonies\",\"Thanasis Nicolaou\",\"Top News\",\"WHO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Other\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477\",\"name\":\"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11477#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84\"},\"description\":\"The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. The Attorney General has indicated that he will not pursue criminal charges, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions. 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The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. The Attorney General has indicated that he will not pursue criminal charges, but the family is determined to proceed with private prosecutions. Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict","og_description":"The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. The criminal investigator involved in the case stated that the investigation was thorough and objective, and the next step is to identify suspects based on the evidence. The Nicolaou family plans to pursue private criminal prosecutions against those responsible for mishandling the case initially. 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Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":708,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"PhileNews (Cyprus)","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"PhileNews (Cyprus)","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477"},"author":{"name":"PhileNews (Cyprus)","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84"},"headline":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict","datePublished":"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477"},"wordCount":424,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg","keywords":["age","attorney general","charges","conviction","Crime","criminal charges","criminal proceedings","death","evidence","Exhumation","family","high-profile case","inquest","investigation","judge","justice","Local","minor","Murder","murder verdict","National Guard","national guardsman","perpetrators","report","satisfaction","state","strangulation","suicide","suspects","testimonies","Thanasis Nicolaou","Top News","WHO"],"articleSection":["Other"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477","name":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-11T23:00:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84"},"description":"The third coroner\u2019s inquest into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou concluded that he was murdered by strangulation, bringing relief to his family after a long struggle for justice. 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Matsas emphasized the need for a fair and objective reinvestigation to gather more evidence and potentially prosecute individuals involved in the crime.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/it-is-now-up-to-the-state-to-find-suspects-investigator-says-after-thanasis-nicolaou-murder-verdict.jpg","width":1200,"height":708,"caption":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11477#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It is now up to the state to find suspects, investigator says after Thanasis Nicolaou murder verdict"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/b84b88c4fd397cc2d0104b41d48fad84","name":"PhileNews (Cyprus)","sameAs":["https:\/\/in-cyprus.philenews.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=5"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}