Cyprus court sets trial for confessed serial killer

Members of the Cyprus Special Disaster Response Unit in boat search for a suitcase in a man-made lake, near the village of Mitsero outside of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus on April 30, 2019. (AP)

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A Cypriot court says an army captain who has confessed to killing seven foreign women and girls will stand trial next week.

A district court judge said Friday the 35 year-old suspect will remain in custody until his trial before a criminal court on Monday.

The suspect, believed to be Cyprus’ first serial killer, faces premeditated murder and kidnapping charges in the killings of a Romanian woman and her daughter, three Filipino women and the daughter of one of them, and a Nepalese woman.

Police have recovered the bodies of all the victims after the suspect directed them to his disposal sites, including a toxic lake.

The case has shocked this east Mediterranean island nation and led to the justice minister and police chief losing their jobs.

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