A Greek Australian man has been stabbed to death in the Philippines, reports the ABC.
Lambros Zervas was found dead last week on Tuesday in his home office in a condominium building in Manila by his associate Diosdado Gregorio, who according to police reports, had been asked by Mr Zervas’ wife Rocelyn to check on her husband.
According to police, Mr Zervas had been stabbed multiple times and had a garbage bag held over his head.
From Adelaide, local media reported that he had been operating a carpet cleaning business for a number of years in Manila and Cebu province.
Soon after Mr Zervas’ body was discovered, a US national living in the same condominium, 58-year-old Kenneth Darnell Bethea was arrested.
Pasig City police chief Rizalito Gapas revealed to local media that Mr Bethea was found by security services after having spent the night inside a van that was owned by Mr Zervas.
Police suspect the two men were business associates and believe they had been quarrelling over money as Mr Bethea had called Mr Zervas’ wife to demand he be paid the money owed to him by her husband.
Meanwhile a witness said they saw Mr Bethea leaving Mr Zervas’ home office, where the body was found, in a hurry.
Further investigation by police has revealed that Mr Bethea had put in a request for the unit’s door lock to be changed.
“He may have [wanted] to change the [lock] to delay the discovery of the body, giving him time to escape,” police chief Gapas told The Inquirer.
