A jury at the Old Bailey has found a Walthamstow man guilty of murdering the flatmate he shared a home with, following an argument over money.
Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, of Westbury Road, was convicted on 18 August of the murder of 63-year-old Gheorghe Trica. He is due to be sentenced on 21 August.
Officers were called to a stabbing at the pair's shared address at 8:51pm on 20 February. Gheorghe was pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics. Neamtu was arrested that evening and charged with murder two days later.
The investigation found that during the argument Neamtu armed himself with a kitchen knife and stabbed Gheorghe in the chest. The blade penetrated the heart, causing catastrophic bleeding. Witnesses reported that Gheorghe had been asking Neamtu to return £5 to him.
In his own 999 call, Neamtu said: "There was an incident here and a person is injured..." He later claimed he had acted in self-defence, alleging that Gheorghe had attacked him. Police found only minor superficial injuries on Neamtu, and witness testimony contradicted his account.
Officers recovered the steak knife from a garden below the communal balcony, after witnesses described seeing Neamtu dispose of an object.
Neamtu had a previous conviction in Romania for a knife attack during another dispute over money in 2006. He served 15 years in prison before arriving in the UK in May 2023.
Detective Inspector Jonathan Potter said the use of "extreme violence during a petty dispute" showed Neamtu to be "a dangerous offender".
