Suspected murderer turns up in Athens

Wanted fugitive contacted embassy because he had run out of medicine

A 25-year-old Syrian man charged with murdering his sister in Denmark last year, who escaped from a psychiatric ward in Horsens last month, has been arrested and imprisoned in Greece.

Barzan Bahjat Khalil fled from Denmark in late June this year, and international police were notified of his escape.

On July 3, he contacted the Danish embassy in Athens due to the fact he had run out of medication and wanted assistance.

The embassy then contacted the local police, who arrested the 25-year-old.

Late Monday, it became clear that Khalil was the man who fled from Horsens. According to South East Jutland police, it had taken time to identify the man because he had no passport or papers on him.

Murderer awaiting extradition
Danish authorities will now submit the necessary documents to Greece so he can be extradited to Denmark. The police have not yet made any comments on when the extradition will take place.

Khalil is accused of stabbing his sister to death in an apartment in Sønderbrogade in Horsens in December last year. Several members of his family were present at the scene of the crime.

Some days before his escape in June, Khalil had been moved from a closed prison cell to the psychiatric ward, where it is suspected he climbed a wall in order to escape.