This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/8231124.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Developer guilty of tenant murder | Developer guilty of tenant murder |
(20 minutes later) | |
A developer who arranged the killing of a tenant after he had refused to leave a building wanted for a £2m property deal has been convicted of his murder. | |
Thanos Papalexis, 37, of Palm Beach, Florida, allegedly hired henchmen to kill caretaker Charalambos Christodoulides, 55, in March 2000. | Thanos Papalexis, 37, of Palm Beach, Florida, allegedly hired henchmen to kill caretaker Charalambos Christodoulides, 55, in March 2000. |
His body was found in a warehouse complex in Kensal Rise, north-west London, which he had refused to leave. | |
Mr Papalexis is in custody awaiting sentence on 30 September. | |
It appears that the victim was condemned to die for no better reason than he was not prepared to leave his home Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC class="" href="/1/hi/background/preparation_-_will_not_publish/8126541.stm">Tycoon eliminated stubborn tenant | |
Papalexis's conviction on Friday could not be reported until Monday when the jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on Ylli Xhelo, 35, and Robert Baxhija, 29. | |
The two Albanian workmen employed by Papalexis had also also been charged with the murder. | The two Albanian workmen employed by Papalexis had also also been charged with the murder. |
Papalexis, who had held a fundraiser at his Florida home for Hillary Clinton, had Christodoulides killed as he would not leave the £2m warehouse building he was trying to sell, the court heard. | |
He was worried the deal would collapse and needed money for another development. | He was worried the deal would collapse and needed money for another development. |
Papalexis was also in a "perilous" financial state after his inexperience led to heavy losses on another development in Holloway, north London. | |
He was paying £60,000 a week on a bridging loan. | |
Tortured and strangled | |
The developer was arrested in Palm Beach in November last year after police spent years building up a case against him. | |
Local prostitute Rebecca DeFalco then told US marshals that Papalexis, her former lover, had confessed to her in 2004. | |
The prosecution said Papalexis thought Mr Christodoulides stood in the way of a quick deal to sell the derelict site to save him from financial ruin. | |
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said Mr Christodoulides had been tied to a chair, tortured and strangled. | Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said Mr Christodoulides had been tied to a chair, tortured and strangled. |
Mr Laidlaw added: "It appears that the victim was condemned to die for no better reason than he was not prepared to leave his home." | |
Mr Xhelo and Mr Baxhija were remanded in custody to face a retrial. |