Chris Kafkias has appeared in court charged with one count of murder following the death of a man in Melbourne’s east.
The body of Vicsoccer administrator John Kelly, 54, was found by family friends at a house in Doncaster Road on Tuesday morning, according to ABC reports.
Police believe he was killed on Christmas Eve.
Vicsoccer referee coordinator Andrew Vecris says Kafkias, 29, of Hawk St, Doncaster East, had worked alongside Mr Kelly at the state amateur soccer federation.
“It was very shocking for everybody,” Mr Vecris said.
He described Mr Kelly as a kind man who kept to himself and said that it was hard to imagine why someone would want him dead.
“This guy was a very interesting character. He always lived by himself [but] he was well known in Melbourne, in the circle of soccer,” he said.
“Whether we liked him or not, that was for us a big shock.”
Mr Kelly’s neighbour Paul Swann said Mr Kelly, a St John Ambulance volunteer, was a private person.
Homicide squad detectives and forensic investigators spent hours gathering evidence from Mr Kelly’s single-storey brown-brick house last week, the Manningham Leader reported.