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WORLD NEWS Monday 29 april 2019

Cyprus serial killer case: Body in suitcase pulled from lake

By PETROS KARADJIAS to be Maricar Valtez Ar- foreign women who came
MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS quiola, 31, from the Philip- to work in the east Mediter-
Associated Press pines; Florentina Bunea, ranean island nation.
MITSERO, Cyprus (AP) — 36, from Romania; and Bu- The case came to light with
Cypriot investigators hunt- nea's 8-year-old daughter, the April 14 discovery of the
ing for victims of a sus- Elena Natalia. Arquiola has bound body of 38-year-old
pected serial killer retrieved been missing since Decem- Mary Rose Tiburcio, from
a suitcase containing the ber 2017, while the mother the Philippines, down a
decomposing remains of a and daughter vanished in flooded shaft near the lake.
woman from the bottom of September 2016. The discovery triggered a
a man-made lake Sunday. Shailos said a coroner who homicide investigation that
The body is believed to be carried out a preliminary led to the captain's arrest
that of one of the victims examination at the scene before a second woman's
of a Cypriot military officer determined that the body body — thought to be that
who has confessed to kill- is of an adult female. of 28-year-old Arian Pala-
ing seven foreign women A diver, left, and an Investigator hold a suitcase found in a man- The retrieved suitcase is nas Lozano, also from the
and girls. The suitcase was made lake, near the village of Mitsero outside of the capital one of two that were lo- Philippines — was found
weighed down by a con- Nicosia, Cyprus, Sunday, April 28, 2019. cated in the lake Satur- in the mineshaft on April
crete block, the chief of Associated Press day. Shailos said authorities 20. Police said the suspect
Cyprus' Criminal Investiga- won't retrieve the second admitted killing them both
tion Department said. examinations will be con- old army captain — told one immediately, but will and they believe that he
Senior Inspector Neophy- ducted to determine the investigators that he put continue scouring the lake also killed Tiburcio's 6-year-
tos Shailos said a coroner woman's identity. the bodies of three of his for the third suitcase. old daughter, Sierra, who
who examined the body Authorities focused their victims into suitcases and The development is the remains missing.
at the scene said it was in search on the lake about 32 threw them into the toxic latest in a rapidly unfold- Police initially tracked
an advanced stage of de- kilometers (20 miles) west of lake, part of a now-defunct ing case that has shocked down the suspect through
composition. He said a bat- the capital, Nicosia, after copper pyrite mine. Cypriots who fear a serial Tiburcio's computer mes-
tery of tests and scientific the suspect — a 35-year- Those victims are believed killer has been preying on sages on a dating site.q

Armenian trans woman gets threats after parliament speech

Associated Press who knows, maybe a 284th Armenian Apostolic Church
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — will commit a crime tomor- said gay sex should be con-
A transgender woman who row." sidered a crime punishable
broke boundaries with a Some lawmakers imme- by prison.
speech in Armenia's parlia- diately expressed their of- Armenia decriminalized
ment says she has received fense. The head of the homosexuality in 2003, but
death threats and is avoid- human rights committee many in the country resist
ing leaving her home in the complained Martirosian recognizing LGBT rights.
backlash to her three-min- disturbed a hearing agen- "I received many calls with
ute address. da and disrespected par- threats directed against
Lilit Martirosian told mem- liament. me personally. People
bers of parliament's human The next day, hundreds of would say I needed to be
rights committee on April 5 people protesting outside murdered, butchered,"
that the group she found- the parliament building Martirosian told The Associ-
ed, Right Side, had record- demanded to have the ated Press on Friday.
ed 283 cases of transgen- podium Martirosian used Since taking office, Prime
der rights violations. fumigated. Minister Nikol Pashinian has
"For me, that means that One protester brandished tried to keep a distance In this frame grab taken from the Associated Press Television
there are 283 criminals in a knife at cameras and from the issue of LGBT rights, footage on Friday, April 26, 2019, Lilit Martirosian, a founder of
Armenia living next to me said he would use it against calling it "an unnecessary the Armenian transgender organization Right Side, gestures
and you," Martirosian said transgender people. A headache to deal with in while her interview for the Associated Press in Yerevan, Armenia.
Associated Press
during her speech. "And priest from the dominant 10, 20, 30 years."q