Kinnear murder accused’s case postponed
THE case against Zane Killian, an alleged co-conspirator in the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear, was postponed after the court heard the lead prosecutor was selfisolating.
Killian, who was charged in September for the murder of Kinnear, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud and illegal interference in communication, briefly appeared at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where his case was postponed to next Tuesday.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the case had to be postponed to December 8 “because the prosecutor (Gregory Wolmarans) was self-isolating”.
This after he was in contact with a Covid-19-positive colleague at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Ntabazalila said next week the two parties’ defence and the Sate would decide whether to start with the bail application or not.
Killian, who was arrested in connection with the murder of Kinnear, is also facing separate charges in connection with the attempted murder of Cape Town lawyer William Booth in April.
Ntabazalila said there were discussions to combine both bail applications earlier, but it looked like this had een abandoned.
But the State intends to oppose bail, arguing that an is a flight risk.
“We are watching this one (Kinnear’s case) because if he fails to get bail in this case, I don’t think he will have any reason to apply for bail in the other case involving the attempted murder of Booth,” Ntabazalila said.
According to the State, he “pinged” Kinnear’s cellphones to establish the police officer’s location between March and September 18, the day he was shot dead.
Kinnear was gunned down outside his home in Bishop Lavis, leading to Killian’s arrest in Johannesburg two days later.
He has since also been linked to the conspiracy to kill Booth.
Booth was the target of an alleged hit at his home earlier this year but managed to escape unscathed. He (Killian) and four other accused – Kim Smith, Kauther Brown, Ibrahim Deare and Riyaad Gasant – appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Their bail applications for the attempted murder of Booth were postponed to December 14 for further investigation after the court heard that the bail proceedings relating to Killian’s arrest for Kinnear’s murder in Bellville may affect the bail proceedings in the Booth-related case.