Cape Town - The man accused of assisting alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack to carry out the assassination of Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) detective, Charl Kinnear, has lashed out at his legal representatives.
Zane Kilian had those present in court laughing as he openly accused one of his lawyers of being drunk during consultations, as he revealed a sinister plot to protect Modack after Kinnear was killed.
The father of two and former rugby player from Springs dropped several bombshells about the death of Kinnear as his legal team brought a new bail application ahead of his trial next year.
While Killian has already lost a bail application at the Bellville Magistrate's Court and a subsequent appeal at the High Court he has taken the stand to testify on the goings-on subsequent to his arrest.
Killian along with Modack and a large group of suspects are facing a plethora of charges including murder, attempted murder, racketeering and various other charges relating to Kinnear’s death.
On Monday he told the court he was introduced to Modack through another debt collector between January and February 2020.
He said Modack asked him to assist with debt collections and he agreed as well as to ping the numbers of various individuals using a platform run by state witness, Bradley Goldblatt.
He said that after he was arrested by the Hawks and brought to Cape Town he was put in contact with his former lawyer Eric Bryer, allegedly through Modack.
He said Bryer warned him not to implicate Modack in the pinging of Kinnear’s cellphone and instead told him to blame a “Mr Mohammed”. He says fearing for his life he lied to the cops but later came clean and named Modack.
He claimed that Bryer told him not to say anything to the Hawks or he would have to pick coffins for himself and his family.
During cross examination, Kilian said he was ill-advised by Bryer who never informed him that he was able to take the stand and testify at his bail hearings. He explained that had he not feared for his life he would have co-operated with the Hawks from the start.
“I am not a legal expert. I was scared. I don’t know what will happen when I go back to prison. I was just thinking to stay alive.”
He added that he was told if he changed his legal representation at that point whoever he appointed would be killed.
“My ex-wife was in contact with Mr Bryer and I told her to get a proper person and that is when the threats of Mr Renier van der Vyfer came in that’ if you change your legal representation we will put bullets in their cars’.”
He said Bryer stopped representing him when he stopped receiving funds and he was later represented by Eckhard Rosemann. “In the two or three-times he came to consult with me he should have been arrested for drunk driving,” he said.
Warned not to taint legal representatives, Kilian insisted it was not a story he had made up.
He lashed out at his third legal representative, Johann van Aswegen, saying he has billed Kilian’s family nearly R400000 for a useless affidavit that “amounted to nothing”.
Meanwhile Modack is set to return to court this morning where he faces his own legal battles. Earlier this month, Modack was warned by Judge Mark Sher that if he does not have a legal representative by today the court will appoint a Legal Aid representative for him.