The suspect tried to kill himself when cornered. —Photo courtesy of Pasig police
An American was arrested on Wednesday for the murder of an Australian businessman whose body was found inside his office in Pasig City around 24 hours earlier.
Kenneth Darnell Bethea, 58, even tried to kill himself after he was cornered by policemen at the basement parking lot of a condominium complex on Ortigas Avenue Extension, where he and the victim, Lambros Zervas, lived.
Supt. Rizalito Gapas, Pasig City police chief, said the suspect had spent the night inside a heavily tinted van, a service vehicle of the carpet cleaning service managed by Zervas. The two were believed to be business associates.
Around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, security guards called the police after Bethea came out of the vehicle.
When the police arrived, however, the suspect reportedly climbed up on the hood, tied a thin rope around his neck and attached one end to the water pipe on the ceiling.
Gapas said that the suspect jumped off the vehicle’s hood but the rope snapped under his weight, allowing the police to seize him.
Person of interest
Bethea was seen as a person of interest in the killing of Zervas, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside his office at the same condominium complex around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. His head was reportedly wrapped in a plastic bag.
Gapas said the victim’s body was discovered when Zervas’ wife asked an employee to check on him after he failed to answer her phone calls.
Grim discovery
The employee tried opening the door using his key but failed. When he peeked through a window, he saw the bloodied body of his employer, prompting him to ask security guards for help.
Investigation showed that before Zervas’ body was found, Bethea had asked a building maintenance man to change the office door lock.
The serviceman told investigators that as he was changing the lock, the suspect partially blocked the entrance, preventing him from seeing inside the office.
“He may have [wanted] to change the [lock] to delay the discovery of the body, giving him time to escape,” Gapas told the Inquirer.
Footage from a closed-circuit television camera showed that Bethea was the last person to come out of the office, which was also confirmed by eyewitnesses.
He was seen limping due to a gash on his left leg, which the police said could have been caused by his scuffle with the victim.
According to the police, the two foreigners may have argued over money matters, leading to Zervas’ death.
Investigation showed that before the killing, Bethea reportedly called Zervas’ wife to demand money for his transactions with the victim. It was after that call that she failed to reach her husband.
Suspect denies business ties
The Inquirer tried to speak to Bethea, who was in the custody of the Pasig City police, but all he would say was that he knew Zervas and his wife although he denied he was their business associate.
He said that he was a retiree who had been living alone in the country for several years.
Gapas said both the Australia and US embassies had already been informed of the incident. WITH A REPORT FROM CEDRIX PEREZ