Police have issued a European arrest warrant for a second suspect in connection with the murder of a Moldovan woman in Larnaca last year, after the arrest of a 31-year-old Bulgarian national the previous day.
Thirty-one-year-old Daniel Slavchev was remanded in custody for six days on Friday, in connection with the murder of beautician Daniella Rosca, 35, in November last year. He was arrested on Thursday.
Police told the court that they had also issued a European arrest warrant for a second Bulgarian man, Plamen Tsvetkov, 32, who left the island two days after the murder. The two suspects are friends.
Slavchev, a permanent resident who works at a Larnaca restaurant, was linked to the murder through genetic material and telephone data.
The court heard on Friday that his DNA was found on a ligature used to tie the victim’s arms behind her back.
Rosca was found tied in the bedroom of her third-floor flat in the Mackenzie area by two friends who had been unable to contact her over the weekend.
State pathologists concluded that she died from asphyxiation due to inhaling blood and a head wound. They placed her death 12 hours prior to being discovered.
Police had found evidence of a struggle at the crime scene.
Investigators believe Slavchev, who denies any wrongdoing, was at the scene of the crime at the time in question after his phone data showed that his mobile was receiving a signal from an aerial near the flat.
The court heard that police had received information a couple of weeks after the crime, that a 32-year-old Bulgarian man –Tsvetkov — had installed a tracking device on the victim’s car. When they went looking for him, officers were told that he had left the island unexpectedly with his wife and daughter two days after the October 31 murder.
His phone had also been receiving a signal from an aerial near the scene, police said. Phone data also showed frequent communication with Slavchev’s mobile.
Slavchev had been questioned last March but his story was not convincing. At first he claimed he had not seen the second suspect for a long time, but he later admitted to meeting him on numerous occasions.
He also said that on the night of the murder, he drove Tsvetkov to the flat to meet a woman. Slavchev told officers that the 32-year-old entered a building in the area and then he returned and they left together.
Slavchev could not explain the frequent calls between the two during the time the crime had been committed.
Investigators have also confirmed that Slavchev had helped the other suspect pack his things just a few hours later.
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