Television anchorwoman charged with murder of CEO

You don’t hear about television anchorwoman hiring hitmen to kill network executives everyday. That’s why the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has one hell of a media scandal right now.

Especially when it involves the presenter of a lifestyle and cooking show who somehow managed to acquire a 20% share in said network.

Elana Skordelli, 42, is accused of having engineered the strange murder of Sigma TV CEO Andis Hadjicostis. Hadjicostis, who was also CEO of parent company Dias Media Group and the effective local Rupert Murdoch/Ted Turner stand-in, was gunned down outside of his home on January 11 in a drive-by shooting, in full view of multiple witnesses. According to the witnesses, Hadjicostis was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back, by a masked man on a motorcycle.

The search for suspects led Cypriot detectives to Skordelli, who worked her way up from lifestyle segment host to evening news presenter during her tenure at Sigma. Skordelli was recently let go from her position at Sigma. Following her ouster from Sigma, Skordelli quickly became a presenter for a less popular rival station, CNC Plus TV. Her time at Sigma TV — the island’s second-most popular television channel — was extremely lucrative. Skordelli and her brother Tassos Krasopoulos, 37, managed to collectively acquire a 20% share in Dias. The pair are accused of hiring hitmen Andreas Gregoriou and Gregoris Xenofontos to kill Hadjicostis in exchange for €50,000 and jobs for life at Sigma. But, at the very least, Skordelli knows to bring designer accessories to court:

During remand hearings, Ms Skordelli, who is married with two sons, appeared wearing designer sunglasses and clutching a Louis Vuitton handbag. She looked haggard and bewildered. The prosecution told the court that “the two siblings wanted the elimination of Andis Hadjicostis because, despite paying a large amount of money and being big shareholders in the television station, she was ousted and they considered the victim culpable”.

Skordelli’s sister was subsequently arrested on-site at a remand hearing because she “ran her finger across her throat while glaring at Mr Hadjigeorgiou and mimed to Mr Gregoriou to keep his mouth shut by sewing pretend stitches in her lips.” The sister was charged with threatening violence and attempting to influence witnesses.

A television clip of Skordelli hosting a talk show is shown above.