Cape Town - A 28-year old man appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's on Friday in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Jayde Panayioutou, police said.
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Miranda Mills said that Sinethemba Nenembe faces a charge of murder and kidnapping. The case against Nenembe was adjourned to December 2, when he will appear in court with his co-accused Christopher Panayiotou and Sizwezakhe Vumazonke, 30.
The 29-year old Jayde was abducted outside her home in April. She was assaulted, thrown in the boot of a rental car and shot twice in the back and once in the head. Her body was found on the outskirts of KwaNobuhle township in Uitenhage a day after she disappeared.
Nenembe is the fourth person to be arrested in connection with Jayde's murder, which the State alleges was orchestrated by her husband Christopher.
According to the State, Christopher Panayiotou was drowning in debt owed on his luxury car and properties.
He owed R2.2 million for a Lovemore Heights property - reportedly bought for Jayde - and more than R500 000 on his Stellen Glen Home. At Panayiotou's bail hearing in May, prosecutor Marius Stander told the court that he believed the accused's debt piled up as he struggled to keep his wife and reported mistress Chanelle Coutts happy, and that this was his main motive for having Jayde murdered.
Charges against the alleged middleman, Luthando Siyoli, an employee of Christopher Panayiotou, were dropped after he turned State witness.
Mills said that Nenembe was also facing murder and robbery charges in connection with the murder of 72-year old Denise Webber.
“The suspect was already in custody at the St Albans Correctional Facility in Port Elizabeth in connection with the murder of Denise Webber on 20 August 2015 in Kabega Park, Port Elizabeth when detectives uncovered evidence that positively linked him to the Panayioutou murder,” said Mills.
In early September Vumazonke's 23-year old cousin Thandoxolo Vumazonke was arrested in connection with the Webber murder.
Both Panayiotou and Vumazonke are in custody awaiting trial.
African News Agency
* E-mail your opinion to [email protected] and we will consider it for publication or use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.