by An evil father has been named one of the ‘worst’ detectives ever to kill after killing his own three-week-old child.
Denis Beytula was so jealous of the attention his son Andrei was getting from his mother, that he brutally beat him while he was lying in his own crib. He also attacked his partner and the child’s mother, Andreea Stefan, during the horrific outing.
Five years on from the horrific murder, our colleagues at Chronicle Live have looked back at the case. You can read Sophie Doughty’s report below.
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He should love him and protect him above all else. But the evil Denis Beytula murdered his own baby son because he was jealous of the attention the newborn was getting from his mother.
In a crime that sent shocking waves of terror across Tyneside, Beytula ruled fatally his three-week-old boy, Andrei, as he lay in his cot five years ago today. The then 27-year-old man also knifed his partner and the child’s mother, Andreea Stefan, during a violent rampage at the home they shared in Howdon, Wallsend.
Andreea survived but baby Andrei died in hospital four days later. Beytula was jailed for life after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder. And today on the fifth anniversary of the most horrific crimes, we look back at the killing, and the unimaginable reason behind it.
To the outside world, Beytula may have appeared as a loving partner to his pregnant girlfriend and excited father. But behind the closed doors of their Wallsend home he was a jealous, controlling and manipulative brute.
After Andreea gave birth to the couple’s first son, instead of cuddling the helpless newborn, Beytula was jealous of the attention the little boy was getting for his mother. And his evil jealousy exploded one evening in October 2019 with fatal consequences.
In a row about where Andreea would do her hair, the twisted new dad took a kitchen knife and stabbed her son Andrei when he slept in his Moses basket and hit his partner several times. Newcastle Crown Court heard that Beytula was very abusive towards her child soon after Andrei was born.
Prosecutor Nick Dry explained how Beytula had shown “a lack of interest and even detachment from his son”, and that “the lack of fatherly love and affection defined his son’s short life”. When the new family came home from the hospital Beytula resented the child and his partner, choking her on one occasion and becoming convinced that she planned to leave him for another man.
Coldly he threatened to kill them both before this was allowed to happen. The night before the murder, Beytula threatened Andreea with a knife after he initiated sexual contact with her, but she went to tend to baby Andrei after he started crying, the court was told.
The next day he went out and then returned to town in a violent rage. After threatening to kill himself Beytula stood over the basket of Moses Andrei and hit it in front of Andreea. He then turned a knife on his partner and stabbed him several times.
The beytula worker then left the couple’s flat and dialed 999. The chilling call was released as the murderer was sentenced. And Beytula’s lack of regret or remorse was evident in his voice as he said: “I killed my child and my wife.”
Beytula was captured on police officers’ body-worn cameras. As the police arrive at the scene Beytula, with blood on his hands, officers calmly lead to the apartment. And when asked if his partner is still alive he takes a dismissive tone to say: “I don’t know.”
After the brute was locked up for at least 23 years the detective who brought him to justice explained why he believed he was the worst killer in his police career. Then, detective inspector Graeme Dodds, from Northumbria Police, told the Chronicle: “He was jealous of his own son.
“He killed his own son and tried to take the life of his partner, the mother of his child, all because he was jealous. He was jealous of his son because Andreea loved him and he was jealous that she loved someone bigger than him.
“I have been a police officer for 20 years, and this is not only the worst case I have had to investigate, but I would say the worst offender I have come across. To take the life of a three-week-old child take. , in his own cage in his own house, where he should be safe, he is the worst person I have had to investigate.”
Andreea, who was a manager at Dominos Pizza, met Beytula through work acquaintances and their relationship began in August 2018. The court was told that Beytula was obsessed with his partner and was jealous and insecure during the relationship.
He insisted on having access to her phone and criticized her for having male friends on Facebook. And when Andreea was invited to attend a work award ceremony in London, Beytula prevented her from leaving.
When Andreea fell pregnant, Beytula showed no sign of her waning interest in sex and instead became more insecure and angry, taking gifts he gave her, the court heard. But Beytula was so manipulative that no one could see how dangerous he was until it was too late.
As the couple looked forward to the arrival of their first child, Beytula put the image of a dad in touch with the outside world, meaning no one could see the cruel control he exercised over Andreea behind closed doors. And after witnessing the killing of her son in prison, Andreea made a defiant statement in which she explained how Beytula controlled her mind.
She said: “I have spent every second of my life since that day looking for reasons why the outcome could have been different. I blamed myself for not breaking up with Denis sooner but only those who have been will understand in a controlling relationship why did i stay.
“It occurred to me that I could not find anyone better and that no one else could be the father of our son. He manipulated me and said everything he did was for love. But I know now that what he had for me was not love. Love doesn’t try to control you, love doesn’t threaten you and love doesn’t kill children.”
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