GREECE:A Greek farmer shot dead five hunters for trespassing on a clover field in a crime that has shocked Greece, police said yesterday.
The 37-year-old farmer and his father (73) are to be charged with multiple counts of murder today. They face life in prison if convicted.
The bodies of the five, including two brothers and three cousins aged between 17 and 33, were found on Saturday in the field in central Greece with multiple shotgun wounds, sparking speculation of a possible vendetta or mafia-style hit.
But after questioning, the farmer confessed he shot them with the help of his father because they had repeatedly trespassed on the field of clover he had planted to feed his animals.
Regional police chief for southern Greece, Vassilis Tsiatouras, said: "The son claims he saw the hunters arguing with his father and then heard a shot, which may have been by accident. He then started shooting the five people . . . He fired at the victims again and again when he saw that some may still be alive."
The son was quoted as telling police how he chased the last and youngest of the victims: "I thought I got all of them, and you are trying to run away? This isn't going to happen. I ran faster, got near and I got him as well."
The crime shocked the village of Kalyvia near the town of Agrinio, about 280km northwest of Athens.