He said Ntuli had been diagnosed with skin cancer and was undergoing treatment.
DispatchLIVE had withheld his name until he tendered a plea.
Ntuli, 30, was arrested in the weeks after her murder and was charged with her murder and a raft of other crimes.
He last appeared before the Durban High Court in March for the state and his legal team to set a trial date.
At the time, he cut a sickly figure, moving in and out of the dock on crutches.
Siam Lee murder, rape accused dies before trial
Image: SUTHENTIRA GOVENDER
The man accused of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Durban escort Siam Lee – Philani Ntuli – has died.
Lee was abducted in January 2017 from a Durban North house that was operating as a brothel. While the search for her spanned the province‚ the charred remains of a woman were found in a sugarcane field in New Hanover two days later.
The remains were later positively identified as the 20-year-old by her relatives and later confirmed by DNA tests.
Ntuli's lawyer, Reial Mahabeer, confirmed to DispatchLIVE that Ntuli had died on Friday morning.
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He said Ntuli had been diagnosed with skin cancer and was undergoing treatment.
DispatchLIVE had withheld his name until he tendered a plea.
Ntuli, 30, was arrested in the weeks after her murder and was charged with her murder and a raft of other crimes.
He last appeared before the Durban High Court in March for the state and his legal team to set a trial date.
At the time, he cut a sickly figure, moving in and out of the dock on crutches.
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