ATHENS • In a twist that has gripped Greece, the husband of a British woman supposedly killed during a robbery at their Greek home has confessed to committing the crime himself, police have said.

Babis Anagnostopoulos, a 32-year-old pilot, was whisked by a police helicopter to the capital Athens on Thursday from the island of Alonissos, where he was attending a memorial service for his slain wife Caroline Crouch.

When the police picked him up, the pilot was told a suspect had been identified, but it was not him. It was several hours later that he confessed, police said.

Ms Crouch, 20, was found dead on May 11 in the attic of the couple's home in Glyka Nera, a semi-rural suburb north-east of Athens. She had been suffocated, with her 11-month-old baby girl found lifeless next to her in bed.

At the time, Greece's police minister Michalis Chrysohoidis said he had been shocked by the "barbarity" of the crime. Police had posted a €300,000 (S$479,000) reward for information.

Anagnostopoulos had told police that three "foreign" men had broken into the house, tying him up and killing his wife before making off with €15,000 in cash in addition to valuables. They also killed the family dog. He claimed he had been tied to a bed, drifting in and out of consciousness as he watched the crime unfold.

But police were unable to find any trace of the gang allegedly responsible for the crime, Greek media reported.

Deputy chairman of the Athens police officers' association Nikos Rigas told state TV that an examination of mobile devices established a timeline that revealed inconsistencies in the pilot's account.

He said: "(The suspect) tried to create a crime scene environment that looked convincing - the dog was killed, and his baby was placed next to the body of the murdered mother."

But a pulse monitor on Ms Crouch's smartwatch showed she was dead at the time before he claimed the raid had taken place, while a fitness app on his phone proved he was moving around the house at the time he said he had been tied up. A memory card from the security camera of the couple's home provided further evidence.

Presented with the evidence, Anagnostopoulos admitted to the murder, telling detectives his relationship with his wife had grown increasingly stormy and he killed her in a fit of rage after she had threatened to leave him.

"I had to appear persuasive so I strangled the dog too," he was reported as saying in his testimony.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE