The enraged emperor, learning that this had occurred with Demetrios's aid, first had Nestor beheaded outside the city and then had Demetrios impaled in prison. Later Demetrios's servant Lupus was beheaded after using his master's blood-stained tunic and signet ring to work many miracles.

His cult is first attested in the sixth century. It grew because of his miraculous interventions in defense of the city during the many sieges it endured during the early Middle Ages, particularly by Slavic tribesmen who overran the old provinces of Hellas and Macedonia during the sixth through eighth centuries. His cult was centered around the basilica that bears his name in Thessalonike, which contained a [[Wikipedia:ciborium|ciborium]] which acted as a cenotaph, since his relics had not been found. Later his relics were found and confirmed through their miraculous outpouring of myrrh -- hence the saint's epithet of "Myrrh-streamer."