PORT ELIZABETH: Christopher Panayiotou, in his plea explanation yesterday, told the high court in Port Elizabeth he and Jayde were “happily married”.
During the first day of the trial of Panayiotou and his two co-accused, Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko, advocate Terry Price read his client's plea explanation, which claimed Panayiotou did not know his co-accused “from a bar of soap” prior to his arrest in April 2015.
“I loved my wife Jayde. We made a decision to buy a house in Lovemore Park for approximately R2.2 million in which we were going to move in together and hopefully spend the rest of our lives there,” the affidavit read.
Price said the State had “struggled in vain” to find a motive for the offence and in doing so resorted to speculation about “facts”. He also accused the State of attempting to extract information from witnesses unlawfully by way of threat.
Panayiotou further denied the allegation that he paid Luthando Siyoni an amount of R80 000 to hire a hitman to kill his wife.
Price indicated that Siyoni’s DNA was found on the money but Panayiotou DNA was not found at all.
It is alleged that Panayiotou paid Siyoni, a bouncer from his Infinity nightclub, to hire hitman Sizwezakhe Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde.
The State alleges that Nenembe assisted Vumazonke to kidnap and murder Jayde at the behest of her husband.
Siyoni has since turned State witness.
But while Panayiotou claimed to be living happily ever after with his wife Jayde, State prosecutor Marius Stander told the court he was actually living a double life and was in a sense “married” to his mistress, Chanelle Coutts.
Stander said Coutts would spend weekends away with Panayiotou at hotels and the State intended on leading evidence which would show how unhappy Jayde had been prior to her murder.
The accused face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The men have pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Panayiotou, who was arrested shortly after his wife’s murder more than a year ago, faces an additional charge of defeating the ends of justice.