One of the people accused of the murder of Sam Karmas. HE was a friend of the family, a neighbour the Karmas' had known for more than 15 years and someone they had called a "genuine, nice person." But yesterday that family friend they had trusted for so many years was charged with murder, with detectives alleging he and another man killed the Punchbowl father-of-three Elisha Karmas two years ago. Homicide Police swooped on 38-year-old Elefterios "Terry" Fantakis and his 61-year-old mother at their new Croydon Park home yesterday, as well as 36-year-old man Andrew Woods from Burwood. Both men were charged with Mr Karmas' murder several hours later and refused bail in Burwood Local Court. Mr Fantakis' mother was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and released on conditional bail. Detectives questioned Fantakis early in the investigation as he was the last person to see the 52-year-old alive. He told police his neighbour left his house after helping move furniture out of a home in Warwick St, Punchbowl - in the same street where Mr Karmas, who went by the name Sam, lived. Mr Karmas' wife Jenny said her neighbours had been the primary suspects from the beginning. "I don't think it was that shocking to find out they had been arrested this morning," she said yesterday. It seems ridiculous that this could happen when he was only trying to help someone ... but he just got caught up with the wrong people. She said the family had been friends with two of the people charged over her husband's murder for more than a decade. "They're people we've known for a long time in the neighbourhood, 15 years or more," she said. I don't know how much more I can talk about them but yes, they were nice people. On the morning of his disappearance, Mrs Karmas said her husband had left his wallet and car keys at home, the house unlocked and his toolkit open in the back of his utility truck. "From the beginning I knew something had happened to Sam because this was totally out of character," she said. Just to disappear without telling anyone where he was, he wasn't like that. He would always call me if he was going somewhere to tell me where he was going to be. My first thought was that he ran out to help someone. It wasn't until 7am the next morning I realised something was wrong so I called the police and within a couple of days I realised we probably weren't going to see him again. She remembered her husband of 26 years as a wonderful family man who always put everyone before himself. He loved his kids, he loved his wife. He took care of us and was always there for everyone whenever anyone needed help," she said. It's difficult because I was so used to always having him with me. It's nice to get a bit of closure so we can move on and get past this.