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Man 'told prostitute of murder' Lover 'heard murder confession'
(3 days later)
A property developer told a US prostitute he had strangled a man in London because he was "in the way", a court has heard. A high-class call-girl from Florida broke down in the witness box at the Old Bailey as she recounted her former lover's alleged confession to murder.
Rebecca DeFalco told the Old Bailey of her relationship with her client Thanos Papalexis, of Palm Beach, Florida. Property developer Thanos Papalexis, 36, along with Albanian immigrants Ylli Xhelo and Robert Baxhija, denies killing Charalambos Christodoulides.
The body of caretaker Charalambos Christodoulides, 55, was found in 2000 in the warehouse complex where he lived in Kensal Rise, north-west London. Rebecca DeFalco, 41, claims Mr Papalexis admitted to a murder in 2004 at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.
Mr Papalexis, 36, and two of his employees have denied murder. During questioning she lost her temper and swore at Michael Borrelli QC.
Failed Kosovan asylum seekers Ylli Xhelo, 36, unemployed, and Robert Baxhija, 29, a painter of Sidney Avenue, Palmers Green, north London, deny murder. Ms DeFalco said she did not realise the significance of the alleged confession until she searched for Mr Papalexis' name on the internet and discovered he was facing extradition for murder.
Miss DeFalco said Mr Papalexis told her he worked as a "James Bond" for the British and American governments.
He was charming - he was someone I broke all the rules for Rebecca DeFalco, witnessHe was charming - he was someone I broke all the rules for Rebecca DeFalco, witness
The pair first met in April 2004 when he answered an internet advertisement. Counsel for Mr Papalexis, Michael Borrelli QC, asked Ms DeFalco to recall what exactly he had said to her.
Miss DeFalco described their two-month relationship as "turbo-charged". She held two hands to her throat and said: "He strangled the man.
Mr Papalexis asked her to give up other clients and offered her £1,500 at a time, she said. "Those two guys were doing it and getting tired."
"He was charming. He was someone I broke all the rules for. I fell hard. I was taken for a ride," she said. The prosecution claim Mr Christodoulides, 55, was the last tenant in a disused warehouse in Kilburn, north-west London, and had stood in the way of a £2m property deal.
Following a row she asked him, "Have you ever killed anyone?". The crown claims Mr Papalexis' company faced bankruptcy if the deal was not rushed through.
He allegedly told her, "Yes, I strangled someone. There were two people with me. Mr Papalexis moved to Florida in 2001 and met Ms DeFalco, a prostitute and porn star, three years later.
"This man was giving me problems. It happened in London. He said he was in the way. MI6 claims
"He didn't have to go. He was a family man". She told the court Mr Papalexis had described the man as "in his way".
Earlier the court heard Mr Christodoulides was tortured and strangled as he would not leave a £2m building Mr Papalexis was trying to sell. Mr Papalexis had also told her he worked for the CIA, MI6 and the US national security agency, she claimed.
Mr Papalexis was worried the deal would collapse and needed money for another development, it is alleged. Ms DeFalco said two men working for Mr Papalexis maintained the pretence and she was so concerned about his disappearance she wrote to then US President George Bush for help.
The trial continues. Mr Borrelli asked if she had made up her story, suggesting she planned to copy a call-girl who had sold a story about her relationship with the disgraced governor of New York Eliot Spitzer.
But Ms DeFalco replied: "I was not interested in telling my story to the press.
"You cannot call me a liar - I didn't fly all the way here to lie to you."
The trial was adjourned until Thursday.