Killer’s parole bid sparks outrage
SOCIAL media was abuzz when Donovan Moodley, the convicted murderer of 21-year-old student Leigh Matthews, made his bid for freedom.
On Friday, the Matthews family appeared before the parole board at the Johannesburg Medium B Correctional Services Centre to challenge Moodley’s parole application.
Her family submitted a 131-page document that detailed their pain and turmoil, as a reason for Moodley’s continued incarceration.
Leigh’s sister explained the pain she endured each time her 6-year-old daughter asked: “Where is Aunty Leigh and how did she die?”
Her father, Rob, said that Moodley had his chance to speak, but 17 years later he was still the same lying and conniving criminal.
Outside the prison, he said it was a difficult day that tore open old wounds. “It was like going to Leigh’s funeral again,” he said, while his weeping wife Sharon held him in a tight embrace.
During the hearing, Moodley conveyed his remorse to both the parole board and Leigh’s family.
Previously, Moodley appealed his conviction, but withdrew the application. His appeal against his sentence was also dismissed.
News of Moodley’s parole hearing trended on Twitter, with many wanting to have their say.
One Twitter user, Pamela Salalah, recounted the day she came face-to-face with Moodley, stating she had never seen such dead, cruel eyes before. She threw her support behind the Matthews family.
Another user, @dtumza, said Moodley should rot in jail.
Andre Snyman, from the student security company eblockwatch, took to Facebook to say that Moodley should stay behind bars.
“This man did not steal candy from a store; he killed someone’s daughter. We trust the Parole Board will see through the façade of this criminal and others like him and make an informed decision to keep him incarcerated.”
The Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation dedicated their Survivor Saturday to Leigh Matthews as they lambasted the idea of Moodley’s release and empathised with the Matthews family “experience the trauma of facing their daughter’s killer”.
Moodley is serving life imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering Bond University student Leigh in 2004.
On July 9, 2004, Moodley abducted Matthews at gunpoint, he bound her hands and gagged her before shoving her into his car’s boot.
A ransom demand of R50000 was made to Leigh’s father, who dropped off the money at a Johannesburg toll plaza. She was killed nonetheless.
Her body was found in the veld near Walkerville with four gunshot wounds later that month.