Tenant confesses to murder of Stavroula Leventaki, leads police to rural burial site near Chania
A 43-year-old North Macedonian tenant has admitted to killing Stavroula Leventaki, a 45-year-old woman missing since late May in Chania, Crete, and directed authorities to a rural grave about five kilometres from her home.
Confession ends weeks-long search
A 43-year-old man from North Macedonia, who rented a property from Stavroula Leventaki, confessed on Saturday 21 June to murdering the 45-year-old and guided police to an agricultural area roughly five kilometres from her house where he had buried her body. The confession came after days of denials, contradictory statements, and mounting forensic evidence linking him to the crime.
My life is in danger. I am the tenant of Stavroula Leventaki. A hooded man with a gun came to my house and threatened me to say nothing, because he wanted to scare Stavroula about property matters.
Blood evidence and surveillance footage
Investigators from the Chania Crime Investigation Sub-Directorate had focused on the tenant from the start, considering a sexual motive after excluding other scenarios. Laboratory analyses confirmed that bloodstains found on the floor and television in his house matched the DNA of the missing woman. Further blood traces on a mop and inside his professional van were also detected, with final results pending; authorities planned to issue a homicide arrest warrant once those were confirmed. Security camera footage from a neighbouring property recorded the victim entering the tenant's home on 30 May but never leaving, while the suspect was caught on the same cameras making multiple trips in and out after claiming he hadn't left the house that evening.
It's his last card to try to escape. Our properties were always clearly divided.
- Stavroula Leventaki last seen entering the tenant's house; her mobile phone switches off 15 minutes later.
- Tenant arrested on Friday night for drug possession; named prime suspect in the disappearance.
- Suspect appears before prosecutor, maintains innocence and claims threats from victim's brother.
- Suspect confesses to the murder and guides police to a burial site approximately 5 km from the victim's home.
From arrest to admission
The tenant was arrested on Friday 19 June for cannabis possession, 13 seedlings were found, and brought before a prosecutor on Saturday under heavy security. During the previous days he had given three statements, each containing significant contradictions, and then disappeared for about 36 hours, telling a television programme he feared for his life and accusing the victim's brother of sending an armed man. The brother firmly rejected those claims. After a night-long interrogation, the suspect finally confessed and led officers to the grave site; the recovery of the body and a full reconstruction of the events are now underway.
