Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey today of the murder of 63-year-old Gheorghe Trica, who he fatally stabbed following an argument over money
A man has been convicted of murder after fatally stabbing his flatmate at home following an argument over money.
Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, of Westbury Road, Walthamstow, was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey today (18th August) of the murder of 63-year-old Gheorghe Trica.
At 8.51pm on Friday, 20th February, Met officers and the London Ambulance Service responded to reports of a stabbing at an address on Westbury Road, Walthamstow.
Officers arrived at the property to find Gheorghe unresponsive with a stab wound. Despite extensive efforts by paramedics, Gheorghe was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
Neamtu was arrested that evening, and was charged with murder on Sunday, 22nd February.
Detective Inspector Jonathan Potter, who led the investigation, said: “Gheorghe’s death was a tragic and unnecessary loss of life, and our thoughts remain with his family and friends.
“Eugeniu Neamtu is a dangerous offender who demonstrated a willingness to use extreme violence during a petty dispute. The jury heard overwhelming evidence of his actions.
“This conviction ensures a dangerous individual has been removed from our communities. We hope today’s verdict offers a sense of justice for Gheorghe Trica’s loved ones.”
Enquiries carried out by Met detectives established that on Friday, 20th February Neamtu and Gheorghe had been arguing over money inside in the flat they both lived in.
During the dispute, Neamtu armed himself with a knife and stabbed Gheorghe.
A significant strand of the investigation centred on a series of emergency calls made from Neamtu’s own mobile phone in the minutes after he stabbed Gheorghe.
In a call translated by a Romanian-speaking interpreter, Neamtu told the 999 operator: “There was an incident here and a person is injured. There was an altercation, a man was cut, and I am the perpetrator.”
When officers arrived at the scene of the stabbing, residents immediately identified Neamtu as the person responsible. Witnesses told officers they saw Neamtu standing on the communal balcony immediately after the stabbing before making a throwing motion over the railing.
A police dog was deployed to search the area, and officers recovered a steak knife from the garden beneath the balcony. Neamtu later admitted during police interview that he had picked up the knife from the kitchen.
After his arrest, Neamtu largely answered “no comment” in police interviews, but provided prepared statements claiming he acted in self-defence and did not intend to kill Gheorghe.
He told officers that Gheorghe had verbally abused him, threatened him, pushed him down a staircase and attempted to attack him with a chair. However, detectives found no evidence supporting those claims. Witness accounts did not match Neamtu’s version of events, and a medical examination found only minor superficial injuries on Neamtu’s body
.Pathology evidence demonstrated that Gheorghe sustained a single stab wound to the chest which penetrated the heart and caused catastrophic internal bleeding. The injury had been inflicted with severe force.
The jury heard evidence from several residents who were inside the flat at the time of the stabbing.Residents told the court they heard a prolonged argument between Neamtu and Gheorghe, which most notably involved Gheorghe asking Neamtu to return £5 to him.
Residents also described seeing Neamtu remain calm following the stabbing and reported seeing him dispose of an object, which later transpired to be the murder weapon. None of the witnesses described seeing Gheorghe armed with a weapon or behaving in the manner later claimed by Neamtu during police interview.
During the trial, the jury was told about evidence relating to a previous conviction at the Arges Court of Justice in Romania. This related to a serious knife attack in 2006, which occurred during another dispute over money.
Neamtu was confirmed to be the defendant in this non-recent case through fingerprint evidence obtained by Met investigators.
During the incident, Neamtu became involved in an argument over money and rent, before arming himself with a knife and stabbing a man multiple times in the chest.
The victim sustained fatal injuries and the Romanian court subsequently convicted Neamtu. He served a 15-year-custodial sentence in Romania before being released in May 2023.
It is then believed Neamtu travelled to the UK. During both incidents in Romania and the UK, Neamtu claimed he had acted in self-defence. Neamtu will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, 21st August.
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