State closes case against Panayiotou and co-accused

Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou

Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou

Published Jun 28, 2017

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Port Elizabeth - The prosecution on Tuesday closed its case in the murder trial of Christopher Panayiotou and two co-accused in the Eastern Cape High Court.

Warrant Officer Shane Bosch of the organised crime unit was the State’s final witness. Bosch was responsible for the arrest of Zolani Sibeko during July 2016. Sibeko has been named as the person asked to find a firearm to shoot Jayde Panayiotou last year.

Bosch told the court that after arresting Sibeko he searched for his cellphone.

Cellphone plotting earlier placed before court showed that Sibeko was in the vicinity of Jayde’s home in the days before her kidnapping and murder. The school teacher was abducted while waiting for a lift to work and subsequently murdered on the outskirts of Kwanobhule, on the way to Uitenhage, in April 2015.

But defence attorney Peter Daubermann demonstrated on a map that Sibeko would have to travel down Cape Road, past Jayde’s residence, to reach his home in Greenbushes.

Businessman Christopher Panayiotou is accused of paying Luthando Siyoni, a bouncer from his Infinity nightclub, to hire Sizwe Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde.

The State alleges that Sinethemba Nenembe assisted Vumazonke to kidnap and murder the teacher at the behest of her husband.

Vumazonke has since died.

The case was postponed until Thursday. 

ANA

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