Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-11-28

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Police detain local man in hunters' slayings

[01] Police detain local man in hunters' slayings

The suspect, 37, reportedly admitted to the homicides, adding that the incident occurred during a confrontation with the hunters on his father's fields, near the village of Kalyvia, Aetoloakarnania prefecture. According to reports, the hunters and the suspect's family, especially his father, had previously clashed over the alleged trespassing on the site, and had been warned not to hunt there again.

His father, identified as a 70ish local shepherd, is expected to also be charged as an accomplice.

A beefed-up police presence was evident throughout the region on Tuesday, as the funerals of the five victims were held in the nearby city of Agrinio in the morning, while authorities reportedly moved into the village to prevent any acts of vengeance.

Another unconfirmed press report given by the state television broadcaster claimed that the suspect sustained a minor chest wound after being hit by a lone shotgun pellet during an exchange of gunfire with the victims.

The bodies of five men, aged from 17 to 33, and all related to each other, were found in different locations along a rural road and in a field outside Kalyvia. All five victims sustained fatal shotgun injuries, while one of the victims was shot in the face at almost point blank range.

Nineteen shotgun shells were retrieved from the crime scenes, 12 of which belong to an "unknown shotgun", authorities said in the nearby port city of Patras on Monday.

The victims included the brothers Vassilis and Christos Nikolopoulos, 23 and 21, their cousins Lambros Andressas and Ilias Pipas, each 33, and Alexios Nikolopoulos, 17.

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