Businessman Christopher Panayiotou‚ who is accused of orchestrating the murder of his schoolteacher wife Jayde‚ will spend at least one more night in prison as he awaits the ruling on his request for bail.
The Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s court heard the closing arguments of both the state and defence in the bail application today.
Magistrate Abigail Beeton stated that there has been a request for a postponement and that the applicant had to be transported back to St Albans prison.
Panayiotou allegedly arranged his wife’s murder in April through an alleged hitman Sizwesakhe Vumazonke who was allegedly instructed to make the murder look like a robbery.
It is also alleged that middleman Thando Siyoli was offered R70‚000 to organise a hit on Jayde and according to the investigating officer Kanna Swanepoel‚ Siyoli then allegedly secured the services of Vumazonke to carry out the job.
Jayde’s body was found a day after she was reported missing at KwaNobuhle township in Uitenhage with three gunshot wounds‚ one a close-range shot to her head and two on her body.
Panayiotou has maintained that he was not involved in the killing of her wife‚ whom he was married to for two years.
The state says it has a transcript showing an allegedly incriminating conversation between him and Siyoli. The prosecution also indicated that it is in possession of a footage allegedly showing a secret meeting that took place between the two.
It was also alleged that there has been previous attempts on Jayde’s life‚ one of which had to be aborted because "it was raining".
The other attempt was allegedly scripted to have Jayde lured to Infinity Club (owned by Panayiotou) for a Sunday lunch and have Siyoli follow and kill her after leaving. It is alleged‚ in Swanepoel’s affidavit‚ that Jayde did not want to go to lunch on that day and the plan therefore failed.
It is further alleged that Panayiotou wanted to have Jayde killed because she was a financial burden and that he could not afford both her and his mistress Chenelle Coutts.
Both the state and the investigating officer believe that Panayiotou should not be granted bail as they believe he will interfere with the witnesses and that he is a flight risk.
Swanepoel’s affidavit alleges that Panayiotou is in a possession of a Cypriot passport and could therefore flee to Cyprus where his family owns a house. It is said that it will be highly difficult to have him extradited.
His defence‚ however‚ are accusing the state and the police’s investigating officer of lying about Panayiotou being in possession of a passport from Cyprus.
Defence advocate Terry Price today also accused the state and IO of not being honest about the date that Panayiotou applied for his passport.
He said this was done deliberately to deny Panayiotou his right to bail.
In the affidavit‚ Swanepoel questions Panayiotou’s failure to bring to her notice that he has dual citizenship (in South Africa and Cyprus)‚ has applied for a Cyprus passport and that he has deleted messages on his phone. Swanepoel said that she believes the deleted messages were notifications of the arrival of his passport‚ that he applied for in February 2015‚ from the Cyprus embassy in Pretoria.
Price said that Swanepoel lied because Panayiotou applied for the passport in February 2013 and had not gone to collect it.
Commenting on the deleted messages‚ Price said that Panayiotou only deleted sexual material from his alleged mistress Chanelle Coutts as he did not want the family to find out about them.
Swanepoel’s affidavit also said that Panayiotou should not be granted bail because he is a frequent traveller. Price responded by saying that if travelling abroad is a crime‚ then he himself should get arrested because he also travels internationally.
He said that the investigating officer also misled the court about Panayiotou being a frequent flyer as he only travels at least once a year.
Prosecutor Marius Stander said that all that Panayiotou had to do was to inform the investigating officer that he has dual citizenship and that he has applied for a Cyprus passport. He said that it is not written anywhere that Panayiotou applied for the passport in 2013 and if there is then he will admit to lying.
The bail application is scheduled to resume at 9am on Wednesday.
Widower's bail application in Jayde murder trial postponed until tomorrow
The Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s court heard the closing arguments of both the state and defence in the bail application today.
Magistrate Abigail Beeton stated that there has been a request for a postponement and that the applicant had to be transported back to St Albans prison.
Panayiotou allegedly arranged his wife’s murder in April through an alleged hitman Sizwesakhe Vumazonke who was allegedly instructed to make the murder look like a robbery.
It is also alleged that middleman Thando Siyoli was offered R70‚000 to organise a hit on Jayde and according to the investigating officer Kanna Swanepoel‚ Siyoli then allegedly secured the services of Vumazonke to carry out the job.
Jayde’s body was found a day after she was reported missing at KwaNobuhle township in Uitenhage with three gunshot wounds‚ one a close-range shot to her head and two on her body.
Panayiotou has maintained that he was not involved in the killing of her wife‚ whom he was married to for two years.
The state says it has a transcript showing an allegedly incriminating conversation between him and Siyoli. The prosecution also indicated that it is in possession of a footage allegedly showing a secret meeting that took place between the two.
It was also alleged that there has been previous attempts on Jayde’s life‚ one of which had to be aborted because "it was raining".
The other attempt was allegedly scripted to have Jayde lured to Infinity Club (owned by Panayiotou) for a Sunday lunch and have Siyoli follow and kill her after leaving. It is alleged‚ in Swanepoel’s affidavit‚ that Jayde did not want to go to lunch on that day and the plan therefore failed.
It is further alleged that Panayiotou wanted to have Jayde killed because she was a financial burden and that he could not afford both her and his mistress Chenelle Coutts.
Both the state and the investigating officer believe that Panayiotou should not be granted bail as they believe he will interfere with the witnesses and that he is a flight risk.
Swanepoel’s affidavit alleges that Panayiotou is in a possession of a Cypriot passport and could therefore flee to Cyprus where his family owns a house. It is said that it will be highly difficult to have him extradited.
His defence‚ however‚ are accusing the state and the police’s investigating officer of lying about Panayiotou being in possession of a passport from Cyprus.
Defence advocate Terry Price today also accused the state and IO of not being honest about the date that Panayiotou applied for his passport.
He said this was done deliberately to deny Panayiotou his right to bail.
In the affidavit‚ Swanepoel questions Panayiotou’s failure to bring to her notice that he has dual citizenship (in South Africa and Cyprus)‚ has applied for a Cyprus passport and that he has deleted messages on his phone. Swanepoel said that she believes the deleted messages were notifications of the arrival of his passport‚ that he applied for in February 2015‚ from the Cyprus embassy in Pretoria.
Price said that Swanepoel lied because Panayiotou applied for the passport in February 2013 and had not gone to collect it.
Commenting on the deleted messages‚ Price said that Panayiotou only deleted sexual material from his alleged mistress Chanelle Coutts as he did not want the family to find out about them.
Swanepoel’s affidavit also said that Panayiotou should not be granted bail because he is a frequent traveller. Price responded by saying that if travelling abroad is a crime‚ then he himself should get arrested because he also travels internationally.
He said that the investigating officer also misled the court about Panayiotou being a frequent flyer as he only travels at least once a year.
Prosecutor Marius Stander said that all that Panayiotou had to do was to inform the investigating officer that he has dual citizenship and that he has applied for a Cyprus passport. He said that it is not written anywhere that Panayiotou applied for the passport in 2013 and if there is then he will admit to lying.
The bail application is scheduled to resume at 9am on Wednesday.
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