Hunting News - Five men murdered whilst on shooting trip in Greek Countryside

Police in Greece have launched a murder investigation after five men on a hunting trip were found dead.

The group Ð all members of the same family Ð were discovered with extensive gunshot wounds in the Kalyvia area of central Greece.

They have been identified as two brothers and three cousins and are believed to have been discovered by the father of one of the victims.

The father had received a mobile phone call from his 17-year-old son but, cut off before he could speak, decided to investigate the area in which he knew the men were hunting. Searching the countryside near the city of Agrinio, he made the gruesome discovery and immediately notified the police.

Greek authorities have revealed that four members of the shooting party were found lying together, alongside their shotguns, whilst the fifth, 17-year-old Alexis Nikolopoulos was 100 yards away next to a dirt track.

The other members of the shooting party have been named as Vassillis and Christos Nikolopoulos, Ilias Pipas and Lambros Antressas.

Police are focusing their enquiries on the local farming and hunting communities and have said they are considering the possibility that the shootings could have been the result of a grudge against the family.

Ballistics tests carried out on shotgun cartridges found close to the bodies reveal that all of the fatal shots were fired from the same weapon. A blood trace also discovered at the scene did not match any of the deceased family members and it is thought that the killer could have been wounded by his victims.

Vassilis Tsiatouras, the regional police chief of southern Greece, told reporters, ÒAll the victims were shot from close range by the culprit or culprits whose intention was to kill.

ÒThis was an unprecedented criminal act; IÕve never experienced anything like this.Ó

A relative of the men killed whilst out hunting told journalists of his suspicions as to why they died, saying, ÒWe are almost certain that the boys saw something important, something illegal, and that is why the murderers silenced them forever.Ó