An Australian teacher working in the Republic of Congo was allegedly killed by his partner over fears of his return to his homeland and leaving him with nothing.
Mark Ciavarella, 57, had worked as a music teacher at an international school in the African country for six years before he was reported missing in October 2022.
Ciavarella was alleged to have been poisoned by flatmate and partner Clement Bebeka and one of his friends when they laced his drink before dumping his body into crocodile-infested Congo River.
Bebeka and his accomplice admitted to the killing in a video confession in November, which has been posted by local media.
Ciavarella lived in an apartment in Republic of Congo's capital city of Brazzaville, which he shared with Bebeka since 2016. Bebeka alleges that he found Ciavarella with another friend in the apartment on that fateful day.
"He said Mark was going to leave the country and leave us with nothing and said we needed something to benefit. He said he had a solution," Bebeka told police in his confession.
Bebeka added that when his partner went to the bathroom, the friend poured poison into Ciavarella's drink and told him that they needed to get his money and bank cards.
He continued: "After he drank the poison, he fell asleep and after 35 minutes or so he was dead."
Bebeka admitted that he did not try to stop the man or warn his partner about the poison as he finished the drink in front of him.
Bebeka said he called a driver friend once he realised that the Australian had passed away, with the three men wrapping Ciavarella's body in a sheet and throwing it off a bridge and into the Congo River.
Bebeka and his friend in the apartment have both been charged with assassination and the alleged confession will be showed at their trial, which is set for March, at the Palais de Justice in Brazzaville.
Ciavarella's brother, Darren, spoke about the pain of Mark's death and the anguish of the serious possibility of ever recovering his body.
He told The Daily Telegraph: "If it was a crash or illness, it would be easier to come to terms with, but the fact they killed him and fed him to crocodiles in the sea is killing us, it’s too painful to imagine his last moments, we are absolutely devastated.
"It’s gut-wrenching what’s happened to Mark. I spoke to him the day before he disappeared.
"He was in a good space and excited about coming back to his life in Australia."
