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A convicted killer has been found guilty of carrying out a “strikingly similar” murder just three years after his release from prison in Romania.
Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, known as Jimmy, was jailed in his native Romania in 2007 after fatally stabbing his housemate in the chest during a drunken row over money.
After his release from prison in 2023, Neamtu moved to Walthamstow in east London.
Three years later, on February 20 this year, he stabbed his 63-year-old flatmate Gheorghe Trica in the chest, killing him.
Neamtu, who denied murder, was found guilty following a trial at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, August 18.
Details of his previous murder conviction can now be reported following the conclusion of the trial.
Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, of Westbury Road, Walthamstow, was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey on August 18Met PoliceAs part of their investigation, Met detectives found that Neamtu and Gheorghe had been arguing over money inside the flat they shared on the night of the murder.
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During the dispute, Neamtu armed himself with a knife and stabbed Gheorghe.
Residents told the court they heard an argument between Neamtu and Gheorghe, during which Gheorghe repeatedly demanded the return of £5.
In the minutes after the stabbing, a series of emergency calls were made from Neamtu's own mobile phone, Met Police said.
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."
Officers from Met Police and the London Ambulance Service were called to an address on Westbury Road in Walthamstow shortly before 10pm on Friday, February 20.
Upon arrival, they found Gheorghe unresponsive with a stab wound.Despite the efforts of emergency services, Gheorghe was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
Gheorghe TricaMet PoliceNeamtu was arrested that evening and was charged with murder on Sunday, February 22.
Witnesses described Neamtu as appearing calm in the aftermath of the stabbing and said they saw him standing on the communal balcony and 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 below.
Neamtu later admitted in a police interview that he had taken the knife from the kitchen.
Following his arrest, Neamtu largely answered “no comment” to detectives’ questions but provided prepared statements in which he claimed he had acted in self-defence and had not intended to kill Gheorghe.
He alleged that Gheorghe had verbally abused and threatened him, pushed him down a staircase and attempted to attack him with a chair.
Detectives, however, found no evidence to support his account.
Witness statements contradicted his version of events, while a medical examination found only minor superficial injuries on Neamtu’s body.
Pathology evidence showed that Gheorghe suffered a single stab wound to the chest that penetrated his heart, causing catastrophic internal bleeding. The wound had been inflicted with severe force.
Neamtu will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, August 21.