The Husband Who Fooled Everyone, Even the FBI.
Meeting the love of their life, aloping and getting married is something that most teenage girls dream of. Caroline Crouch was no different. A young girl in high school, only 15 years old, was flattered by a financially well-off 27-year-old pilot who flew his helicopter over her school. Winning her heart, the two eloped and got married.
But what seemed like the perfect fairy tale love story would soon turn into a murder that fooled the world. On Tuesday, May 11th, 2021, at 4:30 a.m., a man named Haralamba Synopoulos, also known as Babis, was horrifically awakened from bed. At the time of the incident, he had rented a two-story mason in the suburbs of Glicka, an area located on the outskirts of Athens, Greece.
Babis didn’t have much time to retaliate as three men concealing their identity with hoods scuffled and overpowered him. They were armed with pistols and wasted no time in tying up Babbis and afterwards went on to blindfold him with duct tape. He couldn’t do much as the intruders then went after his wife, a 19-year-old girl named Caroline Krunchka.
This entire incident woke up their 11-month-old daughter who was sleeping nearby. The intruders, with Greek and Albanian accents, repeatedly asked where the money was. Caroline didn’t know that what appeared to be a robbery would turn into her own murder. Caroline Crouch was born to the retired engineer David Crouch and Susan Delosta on July 12th, 2001 in Athens.
When she was just 8 years old, the family relocated to the island of Alanos, the place where she had grown up. They moved because both David and Susan had fallen in love with the coastal surroundings. From a very young age, Caroline embraced her beachside life. She was passionate about both scuba diving and swimming. She had met her future husband, Babus, during a Good Friday parade in 2017.
At the time, Babus was a commercial helicopter pilot, and Caroline was only 15 years of age. 3 years later, both of them got married in Portugal on July 15th, 2019. A few days prior to her murder, Babus and Caroline had purchased a plot of land. Both Babus and Caroline had plans to build their dreamhouse on the land for themselves and their infant daughter.
To facilitate purchasing the land, Caroline had gotten €50,000 as a gift from her parents. As for the construction costs, the couple had around €10,000 hidden away in their house. The public in Greece at the time didn’t rely much on banks as they were at continuous risk of facing bankruptcy. In light of such circumstances, it was common for the general public to have cash stashed away in their house as it was deemed a safer option.
Caroline probably had a similar perspective for storing cash and by no means would have anticipated what would happen on May 11th. A cry for help. Both Babbis and Caroline, alongside their daughter, were tormented with fear as the intruders asked about the end. In an attempt to end the abyss that had befallen them, Babbis told them exactly where the money was hidden, a location that’s deemed rather unconventional, the intruders opened the Monopoly board game box and took all the money Babis and Caroline had stashed away for their dreamhouse.
But they didn’t leave. Each one of them kept roaming from room to room as they snatched jewelry and other items of considerable monetary worth. The looters wanted more, but Babis and Caroline had given up all they had and in a desperation and fear begged for their lives and that of their daughter. Babbis could hear the screams of his wife as the intruders held a firearm against the 11-month-old infant.
Although blindfolded, he fought continuously against the restraints. However, the rope around his neck was tightened to the extent that he kept fainting in and out of consciousness. He eventually fainted and then regained his senses after a while. Once conscious, he discovered that the men had left the house.
At the moment, the only thing he could hear were the painful cries of his infant daughter. In about 30 minutes or so, Babis was able to get close to his mobile phone and dial emergency services using his nose. As soon as the call connected, Babis cried out for help, asking emergency services to send an ambulance and give them his location. Given that he had duct tape around his mouth, the entire call was filled with muffled words.
The operator on the other end asked Babis to explain what happened, but robbers came in was all he could say. An hour and a half had gone by since the intruders had broken into Babis and Caroline’s residence. First responders arrived at the scene around 6:00 a.m. as they raced up the front steps to enter the house. What they saw can only be defined as horrific.
Inside, the living space and kitchen had been completely destroyed. The drawers were open and empty with clothing and other belongings scattered across the entire space. Among them was an open Monopoly box, the same box in which Babis and Caroline had hidden the money. First responders also found a security cam on the living room couch.
It appeared as if it had been ripped off the walls. While the camera was lying on the couch, its memory card was missing. From the staircase hung the corpse of a white and brown husky puppy who had been strangled with her own leash. Babis was found on the floor of the main bedroom. His eyes and mouth were covered in duct tape that reached his neck and restraints kept his hands and feet behind his back.
On the bed, lying face down, was Caroline Crouch. Their infant daughter was beside her, crying and clapping as she pushed her mother in an attempt to wake her up. Caroline is declared dead. Their daughter, while in evident distress, appeared to be unharmed. First responders, however, were quick to observe Caroline’s pale skin and determined that she was murdered.
Babbis went into visible shock when he was freed from his restraints and saw the corpse of his wife, the woman he’d been in love with for the past 5 years. The officers were quick to ensure the safety of the infant and began to interrogate Babis. Based on his side of the story and the state of the crime scene, the presence of four men was determined.
Police officers concluded that three men had entered the house while the fourth kept watch. They interpreted the entire sequence of events up to the murder and escape as follows. One, intruders approached the house through a dirt road that led to its rear entrance. Two, they failed to break in through the rear door and then removed security pins off a basement window to enter the house.
Three, after entering the mason, they murdered Roxy, the family 7-month-old husky. The murder weapon, her own leash. Four, the three men then entered the main bedroom where Babis and Caroline were asleep. Five, then they damaged the house and took the money out of the Monopoly box. Six, before leaving, they murdered Caroline by smothering her with a pillow.
Seven, since Babis was drifting in and out of consciousness, the intruders may have assumed he died and left believing that they had left no witnesses behind. As far as Caroline’s death is concerned, it was revealed that it was not an instant experience. The 20-year-old female suffered an attack that lasted for around 6 minutes.
Bruises across her body showed signs of retaliation, and those on her lips and tongue hinted at the possibility of sharp objects being used. No signs of sexual assault were found. Investigation and speculation. Although the damage done to the couple’s house was immense, no concrete evidence was left behind by the intruders.
The only thing that emergency first responders found in the house was the hood of one of the intruders. Based on how Babis had described the event, it was concluded that the hood must have fallen while Babis was retaliating. This may have been a small piece of evidence for a case of such magnitude, but the hood falling off was enough for Babis to get a glimpse of the culprit.
A sketch depicting an overweight, dark-skinned, tall individual was created based on the details Babis shared. Despite being disoriented, Babis was able to identify two firearms that were used as well. According to him, the intruders had a black pistol and a silver colt. Details of the investigation revealed that intruders were able to escape with €10,000 in cash and jewelry worth €20,000.
In addition, police concluded that this was an act of professional criminals who had observed the family and waited for the right moment to strike. Furthermore, a police spokesperson had stated it was brutal and violent and went on to categorize it as an act of someone with a lack of emotions and a strong antisocial personality.
Numerous speculations soon followed as details of the investigation provided more and more insight into the murder. A key trail of thought in everyone’s mind was that if money was the motive, why was murder necessary? Some other speculations put forth the claims such as the intruders were high on drugs and could not control their actions or maybe Caroline saw or knew them.
Caroline resisted and fought back given that she was a black belt kickboxer and intruders had to silence her to keep her under control. Alarms being raised as Caroline may have started to scream when her 11-month-old daughter had a gun against her temple. While all of this was mere speculation, the investigators were certain about one thing. The attack was premeditated.
The reason for such an assumption was that the intruders knew the couple had money hidden in the house. Based on this assumption, the police questioned Babis and Caroline’s inner circle. They believed that the gang had been given a tip. Alongside these interrogations, security cam footage from homes and businesses in close proximity was also examined.
In the footage, the police identified a dark-coled vehicle, followed by a motorcycle that was cruising around the couple’s house on the morning of the murder. Caroline Crouch is laid to rest. Caroline Crouch was laid to rest 3 days after the murder. Her burial site was the Greek island of Alanos, the same place her parents had fallen in love with and the same place where she grew up.
Babis paid tribute to his wife and said he was lucky that he had met Caroline, very lucky that she loved him and even more lucky that she was the mother of his daughter. He went on to say that their daughter would grow up not remembering her mother. Babis added that Caroline was the joy of life and will always be near him through their daughter.
While Caroline was being laid to rest, a car was pulled over in northeast Greece as a routine stop. Inside was a 36-year-old Georgian national male, Georgie Herades Villi on route to the Bulgarian border. He had handed over his passport, but it was soon identified as a fake. Who was this man, and how is this related to Caroline’s murder? This man was soon identified as Georgie Harajilli, a violent criminal who had multiple prior convictions.
He was wanted for 12 break-ins that were committed all over Athens over the past 6 months. What painted him as the likely culprit was the fact that three of these crimes were committed around Babis and Caroline’s neighborhood. One of the three was in December when Harajis Villi and three others broke into a house through a rear window, similar to what happened with Babbis and Caroline.
They then continued to drag the female occupant by the hair and threatened to slit her throat. During that robbery, the group had stolen 10,000 cash and jewelry. Their next hit was on March 7th, just two months before Babis and Caroline made it to their hit list. During this robbery, they tied up four others and an older couple along with their cleaning lady.
The loot, cash, and other items of significant monetary worth. If patterns aren’t enough to paint him as the culprit for the murder, then guess what? He had remarkable similarities with the sketch that was made using Babbis’ description of the intruder. The evidence racked up against Tara’s Dishalli included a history of violent break-ins, an attempt to flee the country, and resemblance to the sketch.
Given all of this, the police were confident that they had found their man. Hared Zilli was arrested and interrogated for 4 days, during which physical means of getting answers were also used. He was repeatedly questioned about getting to the location, entering the house, and killing Caroline. The physical means used to get answers left him concussed.
However, he kept his stance and stated that he’d never heard of Caroline Crouch. The evidence police had against him had come up dry. Harold Zishvali wasn’t their man after all, and was cleared of any involvement in the murder. As a consequence, three police officers were demoted from the Athens homicide squad. Continuing the investigation, the police set their sights on a local Albanian organized crime group.
Initially, they had a list of 100 people that was later narrowed down to 10. These 10 were individuals who were on a list of criminals known as the red list. Mugsh shot of each one were shown to Babis, but the police didn’t reveal any other details. The case was taking longer than usual to solve, and the public was beginning to lose patience given that crimes based on race had increased.
The information on Caroline’s case were so scarce that even a huge monetary reward went unclaimed. Residents of Athens by now were living in fear, not knowing who would be the next victim. Media reports from the time cited experts saying that this was not an ordinary case, and if it was, it would have been solved.
Some investigation details that were revealed stated that there was no DNA or fingerprints. Caroline’s family were obviously grateful for the continued pursuit of justice. Babbis told journalists that he wishes that what was happening to him would never happen to anyone else. He backed police efforts and continued to front the media, all to keep Caroline’s case alive.
Babis was even active on social media, answering questions and expressing gratitude for continued support. A breakthrough came on June 17th, 37 days after Caroline was brutally murdered. A small memorial service was being held for her on Olanasus. Those who had come to mourn noticed the detective at the ceremony. The investigators waited until the event had concluded and then began to approach Babis discreetly, asking to be escorted to Athens.
The detectives at the time had new information about the case and urged Babis to come and identify the man. Babis, not knowing what lay ahead, agreed. By this time, the investigators had followed up on quite a lot of leads and analyzed some key details the night on which Caroline was killed. These details didn’t add up.
Babis had told the police that the intruders broke in from the basement window, but that window was very small, and with the physique of the supposed killer Babis had described, it was not possible for that to have been the point of entry. Babis had also claimed that the house had been trashed by the intruders.
However, the neighbors told the police that they didn’t hear anything of the sort, and the sounds that night were of a couple’s puppy crying in distress. No house being trashed, no calls for help, no crying infant. The house didn’t have any fingerprints or DNA. To top it all, the question of why the intruders would tie up a male and fight a female was raised.
Babis had also claimed that the intruders must have taken out the memory card for the living room security camera, but data from the camera revealed that the card was removed at 1:20 a.m., a few hours before the criminals had supposedly entered the house. Further details were that Caroline was wearing a smartwatch that monitored her pulse.
Her pulse readings from 3:58 a.m. indicated she was asleep, but the ones at 4:05 a.m. were up by 50%. Indicating severe physical and mental stress, and the readings at 4:11 a.m. indicated that her heart had stopped. This was before the time Babis had claimed the murder took place. Babis, on the other hand, had a fitness app on his smartphone.
Data from the app revealed that he was moving around during the time in which he was supposed to be tied up. The police had also tried to reenact Babbis dialing emergency services with his phone. However, no one was able to do that. Police investigations revealed that Caroline had attempted to book a hotel for herself and her daughter on the night she was killed.
A text message sent to her friend also revealed that she was threatening to leave Babis. Back when Babis had met Caroline, he was on holiday in Alanos. His mother had lived on the island and was a teacher at Caroline’s school. Babbis at the time was charismatic, clever, loved to take photos, and was well off financially. He gained Caroline’s attention by flying a helicopter over her school.
This was somewhat of a dream that most teenage girls have, but in Caroline’s case, she was unaware that this dream would soon turn into a nightmare. She thought they were the perfect match and took her family into confidence, telling them she was happy. Babis proposed to Caroline a year and a half into their relationship.
At the time of the proposal, Caroline was underage but turned 18 3 days later. The couple exchanged vows and settled in Glistina. In the initial years of their marriage, Caroline attended college in Athens and Babis continued working as a pilot. Both of them were active on social media, sharing the happy life they were living.
From their social media handles, the couple appeared to be in a joyful relationship filled with love and romance. The story in Caroline’s diary belonged to completely different genres. In her diary, she often questioned her relationship with Babbis. In the year 2019, she wrote about fighting with Babis and how serious the fight was.
She had mentioned that she was planning on leaving and going to her sister and that she was unsure if she could continue with him. Throughout the course of their marriage, Babis had become increasingly manipulative and somewhat of a control freak. This behavior was rooted back in their non-traditional wedding.
When Babis and Caroline took vows, they abandoned the idea of having a traditional Greek wedding that would be filled with celebrations, family, and friends. Instead, they had eloped. What may have felt like a romantic gesture from the man of her dreams was indeed an attempt to isolate her. The isolation attempts continued when the couple returned home.
Babis was the only one who put food on the table, and Caroline was just a university student without much money. Susan, Caroline’s mother, would send some, but that too would be taken by Babis. In her diary, she had written, “I love Babbis so much that I can’t leave him, even though this relationship hurts me.” Details of a tearful confrontation with her husband were also found in her diary.
She had mentioned that she wanted to leave Babis, but given that she was pregnant, she couldn’t. Caroline wrote, “I stayed with him so my daughter would not grow up without her two parents.” Another entry dated July 2020 from her diary read, “Today my little one is a month old. It’s also the day I told Babis I want to leave. I feel awful.
” The diary also had mentions of a house in Athens located in Helandre. What started out as a fairy tale love story for Caroline had now turned into an abyss. An abyss filled with pain, horror, despair, and a sense of being estranged. An abyss that she couldn’t escape. one that would eventually consume her.
Phone records hours before her murder also revealed argumentative and combative texts with Babis while the two were at home together, serving as a testament to how distant and dysfunctional the relationship had become. The investigators told Babis that he was the new suspect in the murder case. He was shown overwhelming and irrefutable evidence that revealed the inconsistencies with the details he had initially shared.
He was interrogated for 8 hours before he broke down. Eventually, he began to confess, but the confession was one filled with fabrication. He told the police that he and Caroline started arguing on May 10th, the night before she was killed. Babis went on to say that the couple only fought over their daughter and that Caroline was determined to take her and leave.
This had made Babis lose control given that he claimed that the child was his whole life. Further details of the night from Babbis were that Caroline had thrown the infant child in the cot and told him to leave the house. He mentioned that Caroline was the one who resorted to physical abuse and had pushed him and punched him.
Babis added that because of this, his judgment became clouded. From this point onward, Babis lashed out, strangled her, pressed a pillow on her face using his complete body weight, and killed her. a cold-blooded murder in front of an 11-month-old child. He mentioned thinking about getting rid of the body, but knew that that would not be possible.
Soon after, the thought of framing someone else came to mind. He staged a home invasion, and to make it look real, he even killed Roxy, placed his own child next to the corpse of his wife, and continued by tying himself up with some rope and duct tape. He mentioned that he deserved to be punished and that he owed a big apology to everyone he’d hurt.
While he believed that his actions were not justified, he tried to shift blame on Caroline, saying that he had become unstable and aggressive after the couple’s one and only child. A child that would now have to grow up without her mother, a child who will never know who her mother was because she was brutally killed by the very man she once loved.
The case was later dubbed the murder that fooled the world. Babis had become so confident about getting away with the murder that he didn’t bother to destroy key evidence. In May 2022, he was charged and found guilty of premeditated murder, preventing the course of justice, lying to authorities, and animal abuse.
