ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five of nine men suspected in the beating death of a 22-year-old American tourist outside a bar in Greece have been jailed pending trial on murder charges.
Judicial authorities on the Greek island of Zakynthos ordered the five to be held in custody over the July 7 death of Bakari Henderson. Henderson, of Austin, Texas, was beaten by a group of men outside a bar in the island’s rowdy tourist area of Lagana.
A total of nine men — one Greek, seven Serbs and one British citizen of Serb origin — have been charged with intentional homicide.
Five of the suspects, ranging in age from 18 to 34, testified Wednesday. They are expected to all be moved from police holding cells to prison by the end of the week.
As the first group of suspects was being interviewed by a public prosecutor over 12 hours, security camera video emerged of the attack.
It showed Henderson running and being pursued by a group of people.
One man tackles him, throwing him onto a parked car before others join in the beating. Some in the group attempted to stop the others from beating Henderson, and eventually do.
Greek police have confirmed the video shown on Greek news outlets was genuine.
Henderson recently graduated from the University of Arizona was known to his friends for his fun-loving and friendly demeanor. His family said in a news release this week that he was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line.
No trial date has been set. The remaining four suspects are due to testify Thursday.
