PORT ELIZABETH - PANAYIOTOU PRE-TRIAL MOTION SET TO CONTINUE

Pre-trial motions will be heard in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Thursday in the case involving the murder of schoolteacher Jayde Panayiotou.

Earlier this month, a pre-trial conference was postponed yet again after the alleged triggerman, Sizwezakhe Vumazonke, died shortly after slipping into a coma.

Last month his lawyers indicated that he had become violently ill while in custody at St Albans Prison, to the point that he was struggling to walk or speak and had to be assisted by co-accused Sinethemba Nenembe who shared a cell with him.

On two occasions, pre-trial proceedings had to be postponed as a result of Vumazonke’s condition.

The cause of his death has not been confirmed, but questions have been raised whether or not Vumazonke had been poisoned.

National Prosecuting Authority provincial spokesperson, Tsepo Ndwalaza, said that the prosecution was yet to receive a toxicology report.

Ndwalaza said that the trial would proceed as planned.

“The state is confident in its case and that Vumazonke’s death will not affect its evidence against the remaining accused,” said Ndwalaza.

Christopher Panayiotou is accused of masterminding the abduction and murder of his schoolteacher wife, Jayde, in April last year.

The state alleges he paid a bouncer from his Infinity nightclub, Luthando Siyoni, to hire hitman Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde.

Siyoni has since turned State witness.

Cellphone plotting showed that a fifth accused, Zolani Sibeko, was with Nenembe and Vumazonke outside Jayde’s Stellen Glenn Complex in Kabega Park just five days before she was abducted.

The State alleges Jayde was forced into the boot of a hired vehicle, taken to a remote area in Kwanobhule and murdered.

The charges against the men include conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, murder and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Panayiotou faces an additional charge of obstructing the course of justice.

The trial is expected to get underway on October 10.

VIA - enca.com