Durban - Emotions ran high in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday when two men, charged with the execution-style killing of a Pinetown man a day after his 56th birthday, made a bid for bail.
Vinodhan Ashwin Chetty, 31, and Emmanuel Manikum, 18, are charged with the murder of Paul Moses, a former Pietermaritzburg resident and retired businessman.
The courtroom was packed with Moses’s relatives, all dressed in T-shirts sporting Moses’s face and the words, “Justice for Paul Moses”.
It is alleged the suspects lured Moses to Pietermaritzburg on December 11 last year on the pretext of selling him a truck, then shot him once in the head and robbed him of his car, cash and two cellphones.
Moses’s family reported him missing on December 12, after he failed to return home.
His decomposed body was found floating in a small stream near the Bob Mattison informal settlement in Copesville, Pietermaritzburg, on December 15, after Manikum apparently had an attack of conscience and surrendered to police.
Investigating officer, Mbongeni Dladla, who testified in opposition to bail being granted, confirmed that Manikum had led police to Moses’s body.
The men had allegedly deposed to confessions after their arrests - Chetty to a senior police officer, and Manikum to a magistrate.
Dladla said that police were still unsure who was the triggerman, because Chetty and Manikum continued to “point fingers at each other”.
Moses moved from Pietermaritzburg to Pinetown three years ago, and lived with his daughter, Sharlene Ramsuban, her husband, Manesh, and their 4-year-old son.
Dladla said investigations revealed that Moses had driven to Pietermaritzburg in his blue VW Golf on the morning of December 11 to meet Chetty, who was going to sell him a truck.
When Moses got to Pietermaritzburg, he found Chetty in the company of Manikum.
“They told Moses the truck was in Mooi River, and they all then left for Mooi River in Moses’s car,” Dladla said.
Near Mooi River, Chetty is alleged to have told Moses he needed to relieve himself, and Moses stopped the car.
That was when Moses was shot. The suspects then allegedly drove Moses’s body back to Pietermaritzburg and dumped it.
Dladla said when Manikum turned himself in to police on December 15, he confessed, which then led them to Chetty.
Chetty was arrested at his father-in-law’s business premises by K9 unit members.
“Chetty did not want to come out of the building and a dog was sent in to fetch him,” Dladla said.
Chetty suffered serious dog bites during the arrest.
A firearm was found in Chetty’s wife’s possession. In a statement to police, she said that Chetty had given her the gun to hide.
Dladla revealed that the weapon was a police issue Z88 9mm pistol, reported stolen by Mountain Rise police officer, Stanton Francis, in May 2011.
Moses’s car was also recovered on the property of Chetty’s former in-laws (from his first marriage). His cellphones were recovered from Manikum.
Dladla said that the confessions and recovery of the firearm, car and cellphones constituted overwhelming evidence against the suspects.
However, Chetty is disputing the integrity of the confession, claiming that he was assaulted when making the statement.
Chetty, who is married with three minor children, told the court in his affidavit that he intends pleading not guilty.
“I am a non-violent person,” he said.
Chetty claims he has cancer and because of his incarceration, he has not been able to receive chemotherapy.
He fingered Mountain Rise police officer, Jonathan Padayachee, who is related to Manikum, as one of the officers who “viciously assaulted him” after his arrest. He also claims he was not given medical attention for his dog bites, which have since become infected.
Manikum, in his affidavit, said he would deny the charges. He said he had strong family ties in the city and did not intend to flee.
The bail application was adjourned to Thursday.
Daily News