Axel Schoeller, an Austrian permanent resident of Parilimni who drowned yesterday off Protaras, was a volunteer in the search to find the women and children murdered by serial killer ‘Orestis’ in 2019.
Marcos Tragkolas, the former fire service chief who headed the search, confirmed that Schoeller was the person who found Orestis’ first victim in the Red Lake in Mitsero.
In a post on Facebook on Friday, Trankolas wrote: “Axel Schoeller my Austrian friend. I never thought that something like this could happen to you, even though, as you said, it is the best way to die. I remember your voice and the sound of your breathing when you were underwater, while seeing you holding the first victim in your hands and bringing it to the shore. I will always remember you Axel; for your courage, your empathy, your love for Cyprus and our friendship that grew under these horrific circumstances. May your memory be eternal, my friend.”
The late Schoeller, 60, was found floating unconscious around 1.4 nautical miles off Golden Coast while diving with a friend in search of a shipwreck.
Reports say that he died on a 100-meter solo rebreather dive on his CCR Trilogy rig.
A day before his death, InDepth, a diving magazine, published a piece he had written about his CCR Trilogy.
‘Orestis’ serial killer case
Cypriot Army officer Nikos Metaxas, also known as ‘Orestis’, murdered five women he met on the dating app Badoo and two of their daughters between 2016 and 2018, in Cyprus’ first modern serial killings case.
The case came to public attention in April 2019 when unusually heavy floods brought the body of the first victim, Mary Rose Tiburcio, to the top of a mine shaft near Mitsero, where it was discovered by a German tourist. Another body was discovered in a well at a firing range by Orounta.
Three of the victims were stuffed into suitcases and disposed of in the Red Lake near Mitsero.
The last body, that of Tiburcio’s six-year-old daughter Sierra, was found in Lake Memi near Xyliatos in June 2019.
Cypriot authorities faced accusations of not fully investigating the reports when the women were first reported missing, which later resulted in the sacking of the country’s police chief, Zacharias Chrysostomou, as well as the resignation of justice minister, Ionas Nicolaou.
Metaxas is serving seven life sentences in the Nicosia Central Prison.
(Photo by G. Flaherty)
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