A man accused of a murdering his former boss allegedly stalked him for several nights before killing him in an attempt to claim money that he was owed, a court heard.
Andrej Malinovskij, 44, of Pheasant Close, Victoria Dock, was owed almost £1,500 and had only £4.65 in his bank account when he allegedly beat up and kidnapped carpenter Evaldas Svolkinas, Wood Green Crown Court was told on Friday last week.
Mr Svolkinas, known as Elvis to his friends, was found drowned in a stream on the Harold Hill/Noak Hill border in December 2012 after receiving eight blows to the back of the head.
Automatic number plate recognition cameras and CCTV footage placed the defendant’s Renault Espace in the area of Mr Svolkinas’s home in Dorking Rise, Harold Hill, in the early hours of three days in the weeks before the death on December 13.
Prosecuting, Edward Brown QC said: “This was a man who lived where you were that morning, who owed you money, who was stalked by a car that was the twin of yours.
“By his body was a roll of tape, that was probably used as a gag, that had your wife’s DNA on.
“It was you planning this murder on the 12th.”
Mr Malinovskij, through a Russian translator, replied: “No I didn’t plan his murder, I don’t have anything to do with it.”
The defendant, who denies the murder, claimed he was in the area picking up discarded items such as fridges, fish tanks and prams, as well as dropping off business cards for his building firm.
Mr Brown continued: “You claim you travelled 30 miles that morning, at five and six o’clock, on the off-chance you might pick up a pram or something similar, in the snow.
“You were going to abduct Evaldas that morning and beat him for your money. And that beating you were a party to killed him didn’t it?”
“That’s not true,” the defendant replied.
Mr Malinovskij was awarded £1,430 from Mr Svolkinas’s business ELV Interiors shortly after Evaldas’s death.
His wife Julija Malinovskaja, 28, also of Pheasant Close, was charged with murder alongside Mr Malinovskij in September last year but prosecutors brought no evidence against her at trial.
The trial continues.
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