Policeman Cristian Cioaca, the main suspect in the murder of his wife – lawyer Elodia Ghinescu – was expected to be arrested last night. The arrest was decided by the Bucharest Court of Appeals, which admitted the appeal filed by prosecutors against the decision of the Bucharest Tribunal to set him free during the investigation.
The Bucharest Court of Appeals (CAB) admitted the appeal filed by prosecutors against the decision of the Bucharest Tribunal, which rejected a demand to place Cioaca on remand for 29 days. Prosecutors had made the request in light of new evidence that incriminates Cioaca. The CAB verdict is final and Cioaca will be detained.The Bucharest Tribunal (TB) rejected on November 28 the request to remand policeman Cristian Cioaca, the main suspect for the murder of his wife – lawyer Elodia Ghinescu, who was reported missing in September 2007. After the TB decision, Cioaca told reporters that much has been said about him and he must go home to his child. In the justification of the November 28 decision, TB explained that the existence of a declarative death certificate on the name of Elodia Ghinescu does not absolutely rule out the possibility of her being alive, as long as the death could not be physically certified, so the court rejected the remand warrant against Cristian Cioaca. The accusation document explains that investigators found traces of blood belonging to Elodia Ghinescu on the holster of Cioaca’s pistol, in the glove box of his car, on the carpet of the car trunk and in several places of their apartment, ruling that the policeman murdered her and cut the body in pieces, which were easier to hide. Prosecutors asked the court to arrest Cioaca, but the demand was rejected in the absence of the body.In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled this as a case of murder and banned Cristian Cioaca from leaving the country. The interdiction was maintained for a 4-month interval, then it was cancelled.On 8 November 2011, lawyer Elodia Ghinescu – which had been missing since 29 August 2007 – was declared dead by sentence of the Brasov Tribunal. The municipality of Campulung Muscel issued the death certificate on 7 February 2012, when the decision that declared her dead became final and irrevocable. The certificate was included in the file of the murder probe against Cristian Cioaca.Meanwhile, during an analysis conducted with a device acquired by the Romanian Police in 2010 (Crimelight), investigators found traces of blood on the walls of Elodia Ghinescu’s bedroom, under several layers of paint. DNA analyses ascertained that the blood belongs to the missing woman.Elodia Marilena Ghinescu (38), of Brasov, disappeared from home at the end of August 2007. Her husband reported her missing on September 5, at the request of her boss; meanwhile, the man resorted to the help of some friends to violate her electronic correspondence, in order to find out the name of the man she was having an affair with.Cioaca said that he only looked for clues about the whereabouts of his wife and denied the idea that she was dead. Investigators had suspicions about a murder in the first place, with Cristian Cioaca being the main suspect, because of blood traces found in the family apartment and in his car. Moreover, in September 2007, two weeks after the disappearance, investigators found in a ravine clothes stained with Elodia’s blood.
