Alleged wife-killer to be tried

PORT Elizabeth murder accused Christopher Panayiotou is likely to stand trial in July. Panayiotou and his two co-accused, Sizwezakhe Vumazonke and Sinethemba Nenembe, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The businessman is accused of masterminding his wife’s murder in April last year. He is alleged to have hired Vumazonke and Nenembe to kidnap and kill 29-year-old schoolteacher Jayde Panayiotou. Members of both Jayde and Christopher Panayiotou’s family packed the courtroom. Prosecutor Marius Stander told the court the investigation was not yet complete. “We have requested legal assistance from the Department of Homeland Security in the US. Where that request is at the moment I cannot say,” Stander said.