State closing case in long Panayiotou trial
– After a mammoth trial the prosecution is soon expected to close its case against murder-accused businessperson Christopher Panayiotou and his two co-accused, Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko, in the Port Elizabeth High Court.
State prosecutor Marius Stander indicated in court yesterday that he would recall investigating officer Captain Kanna Swanepoel next week as the state’s last witness.
Earlier, the state called Samier September from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to testify on Nenembe’s student records.
September indicated that Nenembe had been enrolled at the university as a student since 2009. He also confirmed Nenembe had adjusted his cell phone number on his student profile in April 2015. The state also displayed a sick note Nenembe supplied to the university, which contained his cell phone number.
Earlier this week, national investigative analyst Thereza Botha testified on cellphone mapping, which placed Nenembe in the vicinity of murdered schoolteacher Jayde Panayiotou’s Stellen Glen complex on the day she was kidnapped.
Evidence before court also details several calls made between Nenembe and the alleged hitman, Sizwe Vumazonke, on the day.
But Nenembe’s lawyer, Peter Daubermann, said there was no evidence to prove the allegation that there had been an agreement between the two men. Daubermann said it was purely “coincidence” that Nenembe and Vumazonke had been in the same area after leaving the vicinity of Jayde’s complex.
The school teacher was abducted while waiting for a lift to work and subsequently murdered on the outskirts of Kwanobhule in April 2015. Her businessman-husband is accused of paying Luthando Siyoni, a bouncer at his nightclub, to hire Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde.
The state alleges Nenembe assisted Vumazonke to kidnap and murder the teacher at the behest of her husband. Vumazonke has since died.
The trial continues on Monday. – ANA