A Melbourne man has been found guilty of murder after he beat a friend to death because he wouldn't help find a man he believed had an affair with his ex-girlfriend.
Collin Orman Thomas, 33, killed George Anagnostellis, 49, last April, striking him 20 or 30 times in the head using fists, elbows and head butts, before setting fire to his garage.
Mr Anagnostellis' body was discovered by his parents after an explosion in the garage.
Thomas pleaded not guilty to murder and arson, but was found guilty of both charges by a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Friday.
During the trial, the court heard Thomas went to Mr Anagnostellis' East Malvern home around 1am on April 11 last year after a night of playing poker.
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There he drank homemade ouzo and wine with Mr Anagnostellis and two other friends.
Some time after 4.30am Thomas confronted Mr Anagnostellis, demanding he tell him the whereabouts of a man named Billy Theoharis, another poker player and good friend of Mr Anagnostellis.
He believed Mr Theoharis had had an affair with Tina Thwaites when she had been in a relationship with Thomas.
Crown prosecutor Tom Gyorffy told the court Thomas had been trying to track Mr Theoharis down and Mr Anagnostellis wouldn't tell him where Mr Theoharis was.
Thomas assaulted Mr Anagnostellis and then poured petrol on the floor and over Mr Anagnostellis' body and set it alight.
He later handed himself into police.
During his police interview, Thomas admitted that he assaulted Mr Anagnostellis, but said he didn't mean to kill or seriously injure him.
"I wasn't getting the information, obviously, that I was after and I was getting frustrated," Thomas said in his police interview.
He also said it was Mr Anagnostellis who started the fire.
The jury rejected this.
Thomas was remanded into custody.
