Mom murdered next to baby in Greece by burglars who tied up husband, killed dog

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A young British mom was murdered in front of her baby daughter in Greece on Tuesday as she tried to hide from burglars who tied up her husband and hanged their dog outside their house, according to police.

In an abhorrent crime that has shocked the Mediterranean country, the 20-year-old mom — named by local media as UK passport-holder Caroline Crouch — was found beaten and strangled in her attic beside her 11-month-old daughter, police said.

Her husband, identified as 32-year-old pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos, told police three hooded men had burst into their house in the Athens neighborhood of Glyka Nera at 5 a.m. and tied him to a chair while demanding money, the Greek Reporter said.

Once he finally managed to free himself, he found his murdered wife next to their crying baby where they had been hiding in the attic, sources told the outlet.

Babis Anagnostopoulos and Caroline Crouch (Instagram)

Local news site Ta Nea said the killer crooks may have even turned their guns on the baby and threatened to shoot her if the mother did not reveal where the family valuables were hidden.

They then strangled Crouch to stop her screaming — before escaping with cash and jewelry worth around $18,250, sources told the site.

"The woman appears to have been strangled by the robbers in their bid to locate jewelry and cash the couple may have had in their home," a senior police investigator told the Times of London.

"We are waiting for the coroner’s report to establish if there was any other type of assault."

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The baby appeared to be unharmed, with photos in the National Herald showing her being carried out of the crime scene wrapped in a blanket.

The family dog was also killed, and left hanging on the fence of the two-story house, police said.

The thieves appeared to be experienced and had likely been watching the couple for some time before Tuesday’s deadly raid, police told the UK Times.

Detectives were trawling local surveillance footage to see how the gang escaped, and whether they had previously staked out the area, the outlet said.

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A fourth gang member may have kept watch outside the house during the deadly raid, the reports said.

Crouch, a student of the University of Piraeus, filled her social media with photos of her cuddling her baby.

Greeks are used to gangland killings, but the strangling of the woman in front of her child prompted shocked headlines. "Horror at Glyka Nera," wrote the website Proto Thema.

With Post wires