Status boundary: Tzionis pleaded guilty to the two premeditated murders. Marios Hadjixenophontos was acquitted of premeditated murder but convicted of two manslaughter counts and other offences. Lefteris Solomou and Sarah Shams were convicted on narrower burglary-related charges. This page does not collapse those different judgments into shared murder guilt.
A teacher, a bank employee and their family home
Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou, 60, taught mathematics at the English School in Nicosia. Dina Sergiou, 59, worked for the Central Bank of Cyprus. They lived with their teenage son in Strovolos, a suburb of the capital.
The couple were found dead in their home after the night of 18 April 2018. Their son survived and sought help from a neighbour. Reporting later described the household as the target of a plan to find a safe that Tzionis believed was inside the property.
A difficult investigation built around statements and circumstances
Police arrested four people: Loizos Tzionis, his half-brother Lefteris Solomou, Tzionis’s former partner Sarah Shams, and Marios Hadjixenophontos. Early handling of the scene and autopsies drew public criticism, and the prosecution did not present DNA evidence tying Tzionis directly to the killings at trial.
The case nevertheless developed through the defendants’ statements, the surviving son’s identification evidence, witness testimony and the circumstances before and after entry into the house. Because those forms of proof differed by defendant, the eventual legal outcomes also differed.
A final plea and two consecutive life sentences
Tzionis changed his position more than once during the long proceedings. On 31 July 2019, after Solomou had been sentenced, he entered guilty pleas to the outstanding charges, including both counts of premeditated murder.
The Nicosia criminal court imposed two consecutive life sentences. Under Cypriot law, life imprisonment was the mandatory sentence for each premeditated-murder conviction. The guilty pleas made his legal outcome different from the contested evidence and verdict concerning Hadjixenophontos.
Three narrower convictions
Solomou received six years after pleading guilty to burglary-related offences under an agreement in which the murder allegations against him were removed. Shams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, agreed to testify for the prosecution and received four years. The court expressly said her criminal conduct was not linked to causing the deaths.
Hadjixenophontos maintained that he had been coerced into accompanying Tzionis. In January 2020 the court acquitted him of premeditated murder but found him guilty of two manslaughter counts, robbery, conspiracy, burglary and other offences. It imposed concurrent fifteen-year sentences the following month.
The Supreme Court preserved the manslaughter convictions
Hadjixenophontos appealed, arguing among other points that the trial court relied improperly on Shams and added manslaughter after the close of the evidence. In October 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the two manslaughter convictions, finding that the surrounding circumstances supported his participation in the planned burglary.
The appeal was not entirely unsuccessful. The Supreme Court acquitted him of kidnapping and reduced a weapons-related count to one concerning a small knife. Those changes did not alter the concurrent fifteen-year prison term.
Remembering the couple beyond the trial
Court reporting necessarily followed pleas, evidence and sentences. The victims’ family and community also created a different record: in 2022, a green space on the street where Giorgos and Dina lived was dedicated to their memory.
That memorial returns focus to two people whose lives extended far beyond a criminal file. This page omits graphic descriptions of their deaths because they are unnecessary to understand the investigation or the judgments.
Why the case is adjudicated but not simplified
The murders produced final guilty pleas and convictions, so the file is classified as adjudicated. Tzionis is the defendant convicted of premeditated murder; Hadjixenophontos was convicted of manslaughter; Solomou and Shams were convicted of narrower offences.
Keeping those distinctions visible prevents a common editorial error: describing everyone charged in a group case as if a court reached the same conclusion about each person.
Case timeline
- 18–19 April 2018 Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou and Dina Sergiou are murdered in their Strovolos home; their teenage son survives.
- April–May 2018 Police arrest four suspects as the investigation develops around a planned burglary.
- 21 February 2019 Sarah Shams receives four years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and agreeing to testify.
- 31 July 2019 Lefteris Solomou receives six years on burglary-related offences; Loizos Tzionis pleads guilty and receives two consecutive life sentences.
- 29 January 2020 Marios Hadjixenophontos is acquitted of premeditated murder but convicted of two manslaughter counts and other offences.
- 20 February 2020 The court imposes concurrent fifteen-year sentences on Hadjixenophontos.
- 13 October 2021 The Supreme Court confirms the manslaughter convictions while changing two secondary counts.
- 6 April 2022 A green space in Strovolos is dedicated to the memory of Giorgos and Dina.
Questions readers ask
Who were the victims in the Strovolos case?
Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou, a 60-year-old mathematics teacher, and Dina Sergiou, a 59-year-old Central Bank employee.
Who received life imprisonment?
Loizos Tzionis pleaded guilty to two counts of premeditated murder and received two consecutive life sentences in July 2019.
Was every defendant convicted of murder?
No. Hadjixenophontos was acquitted of premeditated murder but convicted of manslaughter; Solomou and Shams received convictions for narrower burglary-related offences.
What sentence did Hadjixenophontos receive?
Concurrent fifteen-year terms after conviction on two manslaughter counts and other offences.
What happened on appeal?
The Supreme Court upheld Hadjixenophontos’s manslaughter convictions in 2021, acquitted him of kidnapping and reduced one weapons-related count; the prison term remained unchanged.
How are the victims remembered?
A green space on their street in Strovolos was dedicated to Giorgos and Dina in April 2022.