Man charged with beating his boyfriend to death in car park
Phillip Papaefthymiou allegedly murdered his boyfriend in a carpark in a Sydney suburb. (Facebook)
A man has been charged with the murder of his boyfriend in a carpark of an apartment block in a Sydney suburb.
Police and ambulance services were called to the basement carpark of the apartment block in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Rushcutters Bay just before 2pm on Wednesday (12 May) following reports of a domestic violence incident.
Christopher Roy Stanmore, 39, was found unresponsive and paramedics performed CPR before he was rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital. Tragically, he passed away a short time later.
Police told the Australian LGBT+ publication Star Observer that the accused, Phillip Papaefthymiou, 43, was in a relationship with the victim.
Papaefthymiou was arrested at the scene but was later transferred to hospital for observation, accompanied by a police guard.
He was then taken back to Kings Cross Police Station and charged with murder.
Papaefthymiou was refused bail and appeared in court by video link for the first time on Thursday (13 May) at the Central Local Court, Sydney, with visible injuries including a black eye, according to The Australian.
The court heard that police would take a blood sample from Papaefthymiou as forensic evidence.
A further hearing has been set for 20 May and magistrate Clare Farnan said police must serve the brief of evidence by 8 July.
Aaron Ravel, who lives in the building where the crime allegedly took place, told ABC News: “It’s very strange because it is usually a quiet part of town. Seeing all the sirens and ambulances and you press guys was bizarre.
“It’s terrible, it is awful, and if they live in this building, too, that’s very tragic.”
Acting superintendent Michael Fuller said investigations were continuing and urged the person who called emergency services to the scene, or any other witnesses, to contact Kings Cross police station or Crime Stoppers.
