Rushcutters Bay murder case against hairdresser thrown out after bombshell report emerges

Phillip Papaefthymiou was accused of murdering his lover until prosecutors were handed a bombshell document, it can be revealed.

Prosecutors have dropped their case against a hairdresser who was accused of murdering his boyfriend in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after a report emerged indicating he likely died of a heart attack.

In a major twist to the case that rocked ritzy Rushcutters Bay, prosecutors told Downing Centre Local Court this week they would be withdrawing a murder charge against Phillip Papaefthymiou, who had been arrested over his lover Christopher Stanmore‘s death and put in a cockroach-infested cell.

Police had alleged the couple had been staying at a friend’s Rushcutters Bay apartment when they came to blows in an underground car park of the complex in May 2021.

Phillip Papaefthymiou, 42, was accused of murdering his boyfriend Christopher Stanmore, 39, in Rushcutters Bay in May 2021 but has now had his charge dropped.

Phillip Papaefthymiou is taken out of Kings Cross police station following his arrest. Photo: Channel 7

But a pathologist’s report recently found that Mr Stanmore, 39, had likely died of a heart attack instead after doctors performed an autopsy on him.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW said: “This charge was withdrawn … because there was no reasonable prospect of conviction”.

Mr Papaefthymiou, 42, who was legally represented in court by defence barrister Paul Bodisco and solicitor Abu Siddque, has since been released from custody, prison authorities confirmed.

Police are the Rushcutters Bay apartment complex. Picture: Richard Dobson

Officers comb the area for evidence. Picture: Richard Dobson

According to police at the time, Mr Papaefthymiou and Mr Stanmore had started arguing in the apartment before they decided to talk in the privacy of the car park.

Mr Papaefthymiou then returned upstairs only minutes later and allegedly told the man they were staying with that there had been a fight.

Later Mr Papaefthymiou consented to an electronically recorded interview with detectives and was open to them as he believed he had nothing to hide and wanted to help.

He was emphatic to the detectives that any force he applied during the incident was self-defensive and that his actions would not have injured Mr Stanmore.

His account had been that he went to upstairs to get help before he called an ambulance and immediately did CPR when Mr Stanmore became unresponsive.

Aside from bruising and swelling on Mr Papaefthymiou’s face shortly after the incident, a court heard traces of ice found in Mr Stanmore’s body could have complicated a pre-existing heart disease and potentially played a role in his death.

Mr Bodisco previously told a court that his client had been put into a cockroach-infested cell and also had been intimidated by fellow prisoners on two separate occasions.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Allen formally dismissed the matter when he was told by prosecutors they would be dropping the murder charge.

Papaefthymiou, who has recently worked in landscaping, once ran a hair salon and sold the business for about $300,000.