A video recording in which Christopher Panayiotou allegedly implicated himself in his wife’s murder, was ruled admissible by Judge Dayalin Chetty in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday.
The trial-within-a-trial dealt with the admissibility of an undercover police sting operation where the businessman allegedly implicated himself in his wife Jayde’s murder.
It is alleged that Panayiotou hired bouncer Luthando Siyoni to recruit hitmen to kidnap and kill Jayde.
The defence claimed that Siyoni was beaten and forced to implicate the businessman, making the video inadmissible. The State however claims that in the recording, Panayiotou can be seen searching Siyoni for a wire.
Panayiotou also allegedly tells Siyoni that he was meant to make it look like a robbery and not a hit.
Panayiotou also allegedly gave the bouncer R2,000 and told him to destroy his phone so that police could not trace it.
Panayiotou, Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko are on trial for conspiring, kidnapping, robbing and murdering Jayde on 21 April 2015.
Panayiotou also faces an additional charge of defeating the ends of justice.
Jayde’s family, the Inggs’ were visibly pleased shortly after the ruling was made.
[African News Agency]
