Eugeniu Neamtu, 59, has been found guilty of murdering his flatmate in east London, three years after being released from prison in Romania for a strikingly similar killing. The verdict was delivered by a jury at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, August 18.
Previous conviction and move to UK
Neamtu, also known as Jimmy, was jailed in Romania in 2007 for fatally stabbing his housemate in the chest during a drunken argument over money. After his release in 2023, he moved to Walthamstow in east London.
On February 20 this year, he stabbed his 63-year-old flatmate Gheorghe Trica in the chest, killing him. Neamtu denied murder but was found guilty following the trial. Details of his previous conviction can now be reported after the conclusion of the trial.
Murder details and investigation
Met detectives found that Neamtu and Gheorghe had been arguing over money inside their shared flat on the night of the murder. Residents told the court they heard an argument, during which Gheorghe repeatedly demanded the return of £5. During the dispute, Neamtu armed himself with a knife and stabbed Gheorghe.
In the minutes after the stabbing, emergency calls were made from Neamtu's own mobile phone. 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. They found Gheorghe unresponsive with a stab wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arrest and trial
Neamtu was arrested that evening and charged with murder on Sunday, February 22. Witnesses described him as appearing calm after the stabbing, standing on the communal balcony and making a throwing motion over the railing. A police dog was deployed, 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 claiming he had acted in self-defence. He alleged that Gheorghe had verbally abused and threatened him, pushed him down a staircase, and attempted to attack him with a chair. However, detectives found no evidence to support his account, and witness statements contradicted his version of events. 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 was inflicted with severe force. Neamtu will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, August 21.
