Port Elizabeth – Murder-accused Christopher Panayiotou and his father Costa were always fighting and did not have a strong bond, the Port Elizabeth High Court heard on Wednesday.
Under re-examination by the State, Detective Warrant Officer Leon Eksteen told the court that the father and son had fought over Christopher’s affair with Chanelle Coutts.
In addition to the strained relationship between father and son, Costa was not happy with the way in which Christopher managed the family business, explained Eksteen adding that Christopher “lost a lot of money”.
Prosecutor Marius Stander referred Eksteen to secret recordings in which conversations took place between Eksteen, Costa and a Panayiotou family friend, Phillip Vosloo, amongst other unidentified people.
“In all the years I was friends with Costa, I saw that accused number 1 (Christopher) and Costa did not have a good bond,” said Eksteen.
Vosloo commented in the conversation that “Costa forced him (Christopher) to marry (Jayde)”.
Eksteen and the Panayiotous were family friends for a period of 16 years, prior to Jayde’s killing, the families have since become estranged since Christopher’s arrest in connection with her murder.
Eksteen testified for the third day in the eighth week of the ongoing murder trial involving Panayiotou and his two co- accused.
Panayiotou, Sinethembe Nemembe and Zolani Sibeko are charged with the murder of Panayiotou’s schoolteacher wife Jayde Panayiotou during April last year.
A trial-within-a-trial is currently underway which aims to deal with the admissibility of a video recording between alleged middleman Luthando Siyoni and Panayiotou during an undercover police sting operation on April 29, last year.
The admissibility of the secret recorded conversation will also be determined at the end of the trial-within-a-trial.
Earlier this week Eksteen told the court that after Christopher’s affair was confirmed, he had heard Costa saying: “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
The State alleges Panayiotou orchestrated his wife’s murder because she was a financial burden. According to the prosecution divorcing Jayde was not an option as the businessman ran the risk of disinheritance.
Costa has since drafted two affaidavits denying he said he would ever disinherit his son.
The trial continues on Thursday.
African News Agency