Bentleigh body found: Homicide investigation launched after grim find

HOMICIDE detectives are expected to charge the son of a much-loved grandmother who was found dead in her house in Melbourne’s southeast.

HOMICIDE detectives have arrested the son of a much-loved grandmother who was found dead in her house in Melbourne’s southeast.

Socrates Tamvakis has been arrested. Picture: Victoria Police

Socrates Tamvakis in a Bentleigh cafe before he was arrested by police.

Socrates Tamvakis, 44, was found by detectives this afternoon and arrested about 4pm.

Mr Tamvakis was arrested at Bentleigh Caffe Crema cafe - less than 1.5 kilometres from the home - after the manager recognised a photo released by police.

Maurizio Brusco said he saw the photo on a television news report and the Herald Sun website as Mr Tamvakis sat in the cafe drinking a free cup of coffee.

“Socrates didn’t have any idea because I turned (the TV) off as soon as I saw the picture,” Mr Brusco said.

“We kept talking to him and he was almost asleep on the chair.

“We kept quiet until the police came.”

Mr Brusco said Mr Tamvakis, who was a regular customer, looked “very run down” and asked for a free coffee because he had no money.

Violetta Tamvakis, 74, suffered fatal wounds in an alleged violent assault with a weapon in the front room of her Bentleigh house.

Police are treating the death as a murder.

They had earlier called for the son, who had not been seen since his mother was found dead, to come forward.

Police said Ms Tamvakis was the victim of a “violent assault” involving a weapon.

Her daughter made the gruesome discovery after she failed to collect her grandchildren from school.

Police continue to investigate the woman’s death at first light this morning. Picture Nicole Garmston

Police inside the woman’s house. Picture Nicole Garmston

Forensic officers looking for evidence. Picture: Mark Stewart

Shocked neighbours watch on. Picture: Mark Stewart

Police inspect a car parked outside the house. Picture: Mark Stewart

The SES set up for their search of the scene. Picture: Mark Stewart

Homicide Squad detective senior sergeant Stephen McIntyre said Mr Tamvakis was known to police.

“We have ongoing inquiries in respect to the relationship with the deceased and her son and any other person that may have been in contact with the deceased,” he said.

“At this point in time the family are obviously distressed, it was quite a traumatic experience finding ones relative deceased in a house.”

Police had been unable to contact Mr Tamvakis for the last 24 hours.

The suburban brick home is still guarded by police and cordoned off by crime scene tape.

Early today a single porch light was on and one front window cracked open, smeared with white powder where the forensic team had been dusting for fingerprints.

Detectives left the scene about 7am.

Neighbours were stunned by the tragedy, exclaiming their grief for a “poor soul”.

One neighbour told the Herald Sun: “I used to see her sometimes and say hello. She seemed like a nice enough woman.

“It’s just so sad.”

Another long-term friend said she understood the woman hailed from Greece.

“She used to sometimes pick me up and take me to work a long time ago,” the friend said.

“I saw her just last week and we said ‘hello’.

“We were never really close but we always said ‘hello’ she was a very bubbly and nice person.

“She would always help everyone out that she could.”

Another London St resident, Rosa Provenzano, said news of the woman’s death was terrible.

“She was a lovely Greek lady she was a nice woman and a wonderful grandmother,” she said.

“I just feel so sorry for her, she was just lovely, I know she used to come and visit my friend across the road and she was always so friendly.

“It makes me feel a little worried that it’s so close to my place.

“She looked quite healthy and vibrant, fit. She was quite a small woman.”

One woman who did not wish to be identified said she’d lived in the Bentleigh area for 50 years and had known the victim “for a very long time”.

“I don’t want to say anything other than all you can do is pray for her poor soul ... it’s just a horrible tragedy.”

Another local man, John, who was out walking his dog, said: “It’s appalling and terrifying.

“I am totally stunned and my wife will freak out that this happened in the next street but there are definitely some bad characters around this area mixed in with the good, so I don’t know.”

A long-term resident of the “tight knit suburb” said the incident made her concerned for her safety.

“It definitely makes you look at your own safety differently,” she said.

“I’ve lived here for 50 years. You hear of things like this happening in other places but you never think it’ll touch you, not in a place like this where everyone knows each other.

“I got the shock of my life when I saw the police cars and the police helicopter hovering almost straight above my house. It’s surreal.”

Last night, forensic crews examined cars parked in the street outside the home as shocked neighbours gathered in the usually-quiet street.

A neighbour, who lived near the woman for about 20 years, said she heard “hysterical crying and a woman saying ‘oh my God, oh my God’” around the time the body was discovered.

She said her elderly neighbour would often bring her family homemade biscuits.

“She has been very friendly to us since we moved here,” the neighbour said.

“She’s a really nice lady.

“When we were young she would invite us over for dinner ... she took us to the mall once.

“She was friendly to everyone, as she was to us.

“It is really quite shocking.”

Other neighbours told the Herald Sun that police arrived quietly at the scene, without sirens.

Detectives at the scene last night. Picture: Mark Stewart

“It was pretty quiet. We were noting that there weren’t any sirens,” a resident said.

“We don’t know too much. The police did indicate that it is probably nothing the neighbourhood needs to be worried about so we assume it is a domestic-type situation.”

Mother Kat Maraventano, who lives nearby, said neighbours often reported seeing the elderly woman in the front yard of the home.

“It is a bit too close home being in our street,” she said.

“It’s a nice area with lots of families so you don’t expect this in your street.

“It’s a bit scary. It’s meant to be a nice, family-orientated neighbourhood.”

Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Lisa Hind confirmed paramedics were called to the Bentleigh address at 4pm, but said the matter was now in the hands of police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.

Originally published as Bentleigh body found: Homicide investigation launched after grim find