A new suspect on Sunday accused millionaire Shrien Dewani of masterminding the murder of his wife on honeymoon.
Hotel receptionist Monde Mbolombo claims he helped hire two gunmen to kill Anni Dewani in a staged hijacking near Cape Town at the request of her husband.
In a further twist, Mbolombo is also suspected of linking Dewani to a previous “execution style” murder in South Africa three years ago.
Detectives are investigating if the British businessman was involved in the 2007 murder of a respected doctor in the Eastern Cape, where Mbolombo comes from.
The victim of that attack is believed to have previously met Mr Dewani’s father.
The dramatic developments came as CCTV footage emerged of the newlywed Dewanis in the two hours before the attack.
The first image was taken at 9.33pm on November 13 as they arrived at a restaurant in Strand, a seaside resort 30 miles from Cape Town.
The couple are several metres apart, with Mr Dewani’s hands thrust into his pockets as he strides ahead of his wife.
They were caught on camera leaving the restaurant at 10.24pm.
Around 35 minutes later, Mrs Dewani, 28, was in the hands of her killers after two gunmen ambushed their taxi as they drove through a township.
Her 30-year-old husband and taxi driver Zola Tongo, 31, were released unharmed before Mrs Dewani was murdered with a single gunshot wound.
Tongo has admitted his part in the murder as part of a plea bargain in which he claimed it was a fake hijacking instigated by Mr Dewani who wanted his wife dead.
He said he asked Mbolombo for help finding the gunmen because he knew people in the criminal underworld.
The hotel worker demanded R5 000 for organising the murder and said the alleged gunmen should be paid R10 000, it is claimed.
Tongo was jailed for 18 years, reduced from 25 years, after doing a deal with prosecutors.
Mbolombo will also be a key state witness in any trial of Mr Dewani, after giving police a statement that implicates the Briton.
South African officials are said have offered him a deal by which he would escape prosecution in return for “truthful testimony”.
Five hours before the murder, Mbolombo posted a message on his Facebook page in the local Xhosa language which read: “You are plotting against me, but there is bigger trouble coming for you.”
At the time he worked at the Protea Hotel Colosseum in the Century City shopping mall on the outskirts of Cape Town, but he left 17 days after the murder.
South African National Commissioner General Bheki Cele said that police are also investigating a link between Mr Dewani and the 2007 murder of Dr Pox Raghavjee in King William’s Town, 650 miles from Cape Town.
At the time, police ruled out robbery as a motive because neither his car nor valuables were taken.
Following the murder of Mrs Dewani, Heather Raghavjee, the doctor’s widow, flew to Cape Town to offer comfort to Mr Dewani.
One of Dr Raghavjee’s sons lives in Bristol, the same city as Mr Dewani’s family home.
Christian Botha, a private investigator hired by the doctor’s family to investigate his killing, said: “The family are very excited by this renewed interest in their father’s case but don’t want to make any accusations until it has been fully investigated by the authorities.”
Mr Dewani, who denies any wrongdoing, is currently at home in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, on £250 000 bail preparing for an extradition hearing next January.
He must report to police every day.
His spokesman Max Clifford described the prosecution’s tactics as “simply ludicrous”.
He added: “First of all you have the taxi driver who made statements to the police in which he said one thing.
“Then he admits that actually he was lying, but the police decide to take him seriously.
“Now, you have another person who is meant to be involved in a murder and he is implicating Shrien. It’s becoming difficult to keep up with the lies coming out of South Africa.
“If it wasn’t so tragic it would be a farce.”
He also issued a statement from Mrs Raghavjee, in which she described the alleged connection between Mr Dewani and her husband’s murder as “horrible totally false accusations’.
The two alleged gunmen, Xolile Mngeni, 25 and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 23, are due to stand trial next year.
THE QUESTIONS THAT STILL HANG OVER SHRIEN...
A month after the murder of Anni Dewani on her honeymoon questions continue to mount about her husband’s alleged involvement.
Was Mr Dewani involved in a previous hit?
Police are investigating whether these is any link between Mrs Dewani’s murder and the “execution style” killing of a doctor in South Africa three years ago.
The murder of grandfather Pox Raghavjee in July 2007 baffled detectives at the time.
The respected community doctor was shot through the back of his head in his Mercedes on a deserted road in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape. Police ruled out robbery, as his cellphone, watch and cash were found at the scene.
Detectives have failed to make a breakthrough, despite a reward for information, a fortune for many in South Africa.
Shortly before his murder, the doctor and his wife of 30 years, Heather, had visited their son Krischen, his wife, Alvita, and their two young children in Bristol, where they know the Dewani family. The doctor’s widow later travelled from King William’s Town to Cape Town to comfort Mr Dewani after his wife’s murder.
South African National Commissioner General Bheki Cele said at the weekend that police are examining a link between Mr Dewani and the murder of Dr Raghavjee.
Max Clifford, who represents Mr Dewani, dismissed claims that the businessman was involved in either murder. He said Mr Dewani had never previously met Mrs Raghavjee and that she had made the journey after last month’s murder at the request of her daughter-in-law, Alvita Raghavjee.
He issued a statement on Mrs Raghavjee’s behalf in which she said: “There is absolutely no substance in these allegations.”
Was it a fairytale romance?
Mr Dewani has said he was devoted to his wife and was devastated by her murder.
He flew her to Paris in a private jet to propose with a £25 000 diamond engagement ring. He presented it to her balanced on a red rose over dinner at the £600-a-night Ritz hotel, where the couple stayed for the weekend, her father Vinod Hindocha said.
Her brother described the wedding in Mumbai as being “like a fairytale”.
But there were also signs of strains between the couple. A woman claiming to be an air hostess on their flight back from the wedding has said that Mrs Dewani looked unhappy and was in tears.
Reports also suggest that South African police are investigating Mr Dewani’s sexuality amid rumours that he was gay. His friends have described these as “complete rubbish”.
Did the couple have a romantic walk on the beach before the killing?
Shortly before the murder the couple had dinner at the Surfside, a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic in the Strand seaside resort about 40km south-east of Cape Town. In the week after the murder, Mr Dewani told the Daily Mail: “It was a beautiful evening and we walked along the beach and ate at a place right on the seafront.”
But witnesses have no recollection of them walking on the beach.
Why did they visit a township twice on the night of the murder?
In his first interview after the murder, Mr Dewani said the couple had made a spur of the moment decision to visit Gugulethu outside Cape Town where their taxi was hijacked. He said his wife suggested it because she wanted to see the “real Africa”.
But he told police it had been their driver’s idea. The plan had been to visit the Mzoli restaurant in the township, which is renowned after Jamie Oliver visited it.
It has since emerged that the couple were driven to Gugulethu twice that night.
Tongo claims a junction in the township was agreed as the ambush point. But the gunmen did not show up, so he suggested the couple had dinner at the Surfside.
While they dined, he frantically rearranged the hit and they returned later to the spot where the gunmen were now waiting. - Daily Mail