Millionaire's son 'killed tenant blocking £2m property deal'

Thanos Papalexis, 36, is alleged to have hired two Albanians in 2000 who tied victim Charalambos Christodoulides to a chair, placed a hood over his head and strangled him to death. Forensic scientists who examined the body said it was likely that Mr Christodoulides had been tortured.

Mr Christodoulides, 57, lived in a warehouse in Kilburn which Papalexis wanted to sell to save his struggling property empire from ruin, the court heard.

He had refused to leave his home, a corner of the building he rented in a casual arrangement, but Papalexis was able to push through the deal after he died. The property developer moved to the US, but is said to have confessed to a prostitute who went to the police after he had been arrested under a warrant for extradition.

Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, told the court: "The victim lived an isolated existence in the warehouse. Papalexis was very anxious to acquire the warehouse in order to avoid the collapse of his business ventures at that time. It appears the victim was condemned to die for no better reason than he was not prepared to leave his home."

Papalexis's father owned chemical and oil tankers but his son entered property development in 1998, despite having no experience. At the time of Mr Christodoulides's death he lived in a flat off Marylebone Road.

The court heard that he had agreed a £2million deal for the warehouse when a failed development in Holloway left him in dire financial straits. A quick sale of the Kilburn warehouse would have made him £300,000 profit, which he urgently needed to fend off his creditors.

At the Holloway site Papalexis "took to having three or four men with him who appeared to act as bodyguards", Mr Laidlaw told the court.

He said: "They dressed in dark clothes and wore sunglasses giving the impression they were Mafia-type characters."

Mr Christodoulides was missing for two days in March 2000 before police searched the warehouse, discovering his blood-stained glasses and more spots of blood in the garage.

Their concerns mounted as the property sale went through, and a week later they found his bruised and battered body hidden in a garage inspection pit. The cause of death was established to be a ligature around the throat.

Mr Laidlaw said: "The other rather gruesome detail revealed by the forensic scientist is that it would appear the victim had been restrained in a chair whilst bound and hooded before he was beaten and then strangled.

"He was probably beaten if not tortured before he died. It was a terrible way for an entirely innocent man to lose his life." Papalexis provided vacant possession of the warehouse to the buyer.

The Albanian men also accused of MrChristodoulides's killing, Robert Baxhija and Yelli Xhelo, who are both 36, were asylum seekers who were deported before it was realised they were murder suspects, the court heard. Both were arrested when they returned to Britain in March last year.

Papalexis was arrested in Florida and extradited, but told police he had nothing to do with the killing and that arrangements would have been made for Mr Christodoulides to move out of the building.

He also said his fingerprints would have been in the building because he had the keys and had visited many times to take pictures.

Papalexis, Baxhija and Xhelo have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

The case continues.