• David Jeffs, 36, defrauded his client Roberto Troyan, 63, for years
• He spent thousands a month on sports cars, fine dining and holidays
• But Mr Troyan realised and threatened to 'end his gravy train'
• Jeffs then killed him and left his body in a pool of blood in his Mayfair flat
• He was found guilty of murder last month and given life sentence today
By Chris Greenwood
A financial adviser was jailed for life yesterday for beating to death a client he had robbed of £350,000.
David Jeffs, 36, resorted to murder to cover his tracks when Roberto Troyan, 63, realised his bank accounts had been emptied.
Jeffs spent the money on drugs, sports cars and luxury holidays and even treated himself to a £20,000 stag night at a stripclub.
Following the murder at Mr Troyan’s Mayfair flat, Jeffs tried to put police off the scent by leaving messages on his victim’s phone and buying identical clothes to the blood-stained ones he was forced to dump.
But he was brought to justice when forensic scientists found a tiny drop of Mr Troyan’s blood in his briefcase.
Mr Troyan became a multi-millionaire following the death in 2005 of his civil partner, Anthony Feldman, an architect whose clients included Princess Michael of Kent. The pair were a fixture on the London party circuit and friends said they knew ‘everyone who was anyone’.
Mr Feldman’s death saw Mr Troyan fall victim to drink and drugs – and Jeffs being hired to look after his assets.
Instead of safeguarding his client’s future, Jeffs treated him as a ‘personal piggy bank’ and as a fund to cover his addiction to cocaine and ecstasy.
He bought two Lotus sports cars, together worth more than £70,000, and amassed a collection of electric guitars. He dined at London’s finest restaurants, splashed out on hospitality packages at rugby and polo matches and travelled to Mauritius, Ibiza and Las Vegas
Just weeks before the murder, Jeffs used his victim’s cash to pay for a trip to Center Parcs for himself, his wife and his six-year-old son from his first marriage.
But by the time of the killing he had less than £6 in his bank account and owed the taxman £200,000.
Mr Troyan was found in a pool of blood in his kitchen by his maid, Davey Aganon, in March, Southwark Crown Court heard.
His head injuries were so grave that police initially believed he had been shot. There was no sign of forced entry or a murder weapon and nothing had been stolen.
That day Jeffs had arranged a meeting for the pair to visit a bank. CCTV caught the killer – wearing gloves and carrying the briefcase – visiting a pub before going to Mr Troyan’s home. There he called his victim’s phone three times, leaving a message saying he had missed him.
It was an attempt to cover his tracks for the murder, following which he travelled to Surrey to pick up a new Lotus.
The police investigation found that he obtained blank cheques from Mr Troyan, supposedly for investments, but which he cashed himself between March 2010 and February 2012. Jeffs, from Nottingham, claimed the huge payments were his fees
He mouthed ‘I love you’ at his blonde wife Cheri, 30, after he was jailed for a minimum term of 24 years yesterday.
The teacher, who he had wed at a £15,000 ceremony a few months before the murder, stood by him throughout his trial, which ended with the jury convicting him of murder and fraud.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Rabinder Singh QC said Jeffs was a smooth talker who creamed off his victim’s savings to fund a greedy and extravagant lifestyle.
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