The photo of the author who was arrested for the murder of the couple Kosta and Kleoniqi Ilia , 80 and 84 years old in Dropull, is published.
The police have arrested their fellow villager, Thoma Mastora , 69 years old, known as a problematic person in the area.
The director of the Gjirokastër Local Police Directorate, Ardian Çipa, in a press conference while clarifying all the dynamics of the serious crime, said that the author was previously convicted of theft, and was under investigation for several criminal offenses.
Full Statement:
On 02.05.2024 at around 08:00, we were informed that in the village of Bodrishte/Dropull, two citizens were found by fellow villagers without signs of life inside their apartment.
Upon receiving the notification, the police services, the leaders of the Local Police Directorate of Gjirokastër and the Police Station immediately went to the scene.
Also, to investigate and clarify the circumstances of the event, a special investigative group was set up headed by the Head of the Gjirokastër Prosecutor's Office Mr. Petrit Çano and the prosecutor Blerina Musabelliu, the Director for Serious Crimes and Specialists from the Department of Criminal Police in the State Police, experts criminologists from the Scientific Police Institute and criminological experts from the Gjirokastër Local Police Directorate, experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine and the investigation structures of the Gjirokastër Local Police Directorate.
The special investigative group carried out a series of investigative and procedural actions at the scene.
From the preliminary verifications, it turned out that the citizen Kosta Ilia, 84 years old, born and living in Bodrishte, was found dead in the courtyard of the apartment, and Kleoniqi Ilia, 88 years old, born and living in Bodrishte, was found dead inside the apartment.
From the superficial examination of the body of citizens Kosta and Kleoniqi Ilia, signs of violence were found in different parts of the head and body.
From the examination of the place of the event, the premises of the apartment and the entire yard, no signs of theft were found or to create the belief that the perpetrators could have exercised control in order to find monetary values or valuables that could be possessed by the victims.
From the investigative actions carried out with criminological and forensic experts, it was concluded that the victims were hit with strong and cutting objects, causing their death.
In order to deepen the investigation, items and tools were seized and taken for further examination, which were suspected to be related to the circumstances of the event and whose examination would identify the perpetrator and document it with legal evidence.
Also, from the control exercised in the apartment, it was possible to find, fix and seize as material evidence, in addition to other evidence, and a significant value of about 5 million new lek that the elderly couple had in the apartment.
In order to clarify the event and identify the perpetrators, 35 citizens were accompanied and asked about the circumstances of the investigation. Interviews, verifications, controls, examinations were carried out, an investigative experiment was carried out and all other actions that the special investigative group deemed necessary to clarify and document the event with legal evidence.
Through intensive investigations, police intelligence, various statements and biological examinations of the evidence, it was possible to clarify the motive of this event and to document with legal evidence the author of this serious event with the consequences of the double murder of citizens Kosta and Kleoniqi Ilia.
From the evidence obtained, it appears that the author of this crime is suspected to be citizen Thoma Mastora, 69 years old, a resident of Bodrish, Dropull municipality.
Following the investigative and procedural actions, the order of the Prosecution Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance of the General Jurisdiction Gjirokastër was executed for the detention of the citizen:
Thoma Mastora , 69 years old, resident of Bodrishte/Dropull, previously convicted for theft.
During the inspection of the 69-year-old's apartment, the Police services found and seized as material evidence the item suspected of the crime, a quantity of military ammunition, a cutting tool, and other evidence that has been sent for examination to the Scientific Police Institute.
The arrest of this citizen was made for the criminal offense "Murder in other qualifying circumstances and illegal possession and production of explosive weapons and ammunition"
In order to clarify this serious event, intensive work has been done by the investigative structures of the Local Police Directorate of Gjirokastër, the Department of Criminal Police in the State Police, the Institute of Scientific Police and Forensic Medicine under the direction of the head of the Prosecution and the prosecutor of the case, where I take this opportunity to thank you for the excellent cooperation and professional work done on this occasion.
I want to assure the citizens that the Police structures operating in the territory of Gjirokastër district are fully committed to guarantee order and security and to fight any illegality that appears in the territory and in this context I invite them again to trust and cooperate even more with the Police as together we build an even safer environment .
Kloeniqi Ilia was found dead in the bedroom with signs of violence on the body, while Kosta Ilia with head wounds in the backyard.
After inspecting the scene, seeing that there was no forced entry into the apartment, the police initially claimed that there might have been a fight between them, even though both were elderly, namely Ilia 84 years old and Kleoniqi, 88 years old .