Jayde killing: Third suspect due in court

Jayde and Christopher Panayiotou

Jayde and Christopher Panayiotou

Published May 5, 2015

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Cape Town – Another suspect will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the murder of Jayde Panayiotou.

This follows the appearance of Jayde’s husband, Christopher Panayiotou, 28, in court on Monday.

Mr Panayiotou was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances. He will remain in custody at St Albans prison until his next appearance on June 19.

Jayde Panayiotou, a teacher at Riebeek College Girls’ High School, was abducted from outside her Kabega Park home in Port Elizabeth on April 21 and discovered dead the next day.

She had been shot in the head and upper body.

The suspect due in court on Tuesday is reportedly the person who shot Jayde.

 

* Two weeks ago the name Christopher Panayiotou, 28, was unfamiliar except to family, friends and business acquaintances.

On Monday, his name was on the lips of most South Africans who have been following the gripping saga centred on the murder of his schoolteacher wife Jayde late last month.

 

How did Panayiotou go from smiling next to a glowing Jayde on their wedding day – the couple had dated for 11 years – to facing charges of her murder?

On Facebook, among “likes” of action movies and electro DJs, Panayiotou is a member of the group “Justice for Jayde Panayiotou – Bring Back Death Penalty – South Africa”.

He changed his cover photo to match hers the day after her death.

 

At Jayde’s funeral last Tuesday, Panayiotou delivered what many said was a heart-breakingly beautiful eulogy, but online probing revealed he copiedalmost word for word a significant amount of the speech from a eulogy written by Charles Atkins for his wife, Jennifer.

Atkins’s speech comes up as a top Google result when someone searches the terms “wife’s eulogy” and “eulogy husband to wife.”

From Grade 4 to matric, Panayiotou attended Muir College Boys’ High School in Uitenhage, roughly 20km away from where Jayde’s body was found near the KwaNobuhle informal settlement the day after her disappearance.

 

Panayiotou, who is the chairman of the body corporate in the complex in which he and his wife lived, owns two neighbouring businesses in Algoa Park, OK Grocer and Infinity Cocktail Bar and Eatery.

The first arrested suspect in the case, 31-year-old Luthando Siyoli, is allegedly a bouncer at Infinity.

Siyoli, who was arrested in Kwazakele Township in Port Elizabeth, appeared in court last Thursday. His case has been remanded to Thursday.

 

ANA and Cape Argus

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