Port Elizabeth
Two weeks ago the name Christopher Panayiotou, 28, was unfamiliar except to family, friends and business acquaintances.
But 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.
He was formally unmasked on Monday as an accused in the kidnapping and murder of his 29-year-old wife.
Panayiotou stood quietly in the dock in a packed Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court as he was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and kidnapping.
Dressed in a black suit, he nodded in silence to indicate that he understood when Magistrate Jan van der Westhuizen put the charges to him.
Panayiotou was not asked to plead. His attorney, Alwyn Griebenow, did not apply for bail.
Panayiotou will remain in custody at St Albans prison until his next appearance on June 19.
How did Panayiotou go from grinning next to a glowing Jayde on their wedding day 11 years ago, 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.
In an emotionally-charged courtroom on Monday, Kobus Gerber, a member of AfriForum and the Nelson Mandela Bay Ratepayers’ Association, held up a poster and rope, suggesting a call for the return of the death penalty.
At Jayde’s funeral last Tuesday, Panayiotou delivered what many said was a heartbreakingly beautiful eulogy, but online probing revealed he ripped off almost word-for-word a significant amount of the speech from a eulogy written by a man called Charles Atkins for his wife, Jennifer.
Atkins’ speech comes up as a top Google result when one 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 from where Jayde’s body was found near the KwaNobuhle informal settlement the day after her disappearance.
She had been shot in the head and upper body.
Panayiotou, the chairman of the body corporate in the complex in which he and his wife had 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 Thando Siyoli, is allegedly a bouncer at Infinity.
Although it was family members who immediately phoned the high-profile attorney, Griebenow, after Panayiotou was arrested at his father’s house late last Wednesday night, no one from his or his late wife’s family attended the hearing on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cape police announced the arrest of a third suspect, and the possibility of additional suspects is still on the table.
Eastern Cape police spokeswoman, Marinda Mills, confirmed yesterday that police arrested a third suspect, a 30-year-old male, in New Brighton on Sunday.
He is believed to be the shooter and will appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s court today.
In a statement, the SAPS said they would neither confirm nor deny any speculation on the motive for the murder, investigative methods, or detail in relation to the involvement of the suspects in the execution of the crime.
“The SA Police Service is satisfied with the good and swift progress the team of investigators are making in the Jayde Panayiotou murder case,” said Mills.
“The investigation team is working around the clock and more arrests are not excluded.”
Siyoli, arrested in Kwazakele Township in Port Elizabeth, appeared in court last Thursday.
He has been remanded to Thursday.
Jayde, 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.