Retired math teacher killed in violent attack amid ongoing feud with neighbor

NEW YORK (TCN) -- A 48-year-old man has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon after allegedly killing his neighbor. 

amNY reports police responded to an apartment building on March 3 after receiving a report of an assault in progress. Officers found the body of 75-year-old retired math teacher George Dourdounas on the floor of the lobby with multiple slash wounds across his neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

His neighbor Dimitrios Manessis was arrested and charged hours later. 

According to a source close to the investigation, amNY reports Dourdounas and Manessis had an ongoing feud for several years. Gothamist reports it is unknown if police had ever responded to incidents between the two men in the past. 

According to a neighbor, Dourdounas had recently earned his Ph.D. and planned to return to teaching in a college setting, the New York Post reports. The neighbor said the alleged attacker was mentally ill, lived with his mother, and would allegedly mock and harass Dourdounas and curse at him. He told the Post, “[Dourdounas] was a very nice, mellow man. This guy just didn’t like him. George never did anything to make this man mad.”

The investigation is ongoing.