PORT ELIZABETH, October 31 (ANA) – The feeling of having your heart ripped out of your chest was displayed on the faces of Jayde Panayiotou’s family members on Monday, as they viewed close-up blood spattered pictures of her face as a crime scene expert testified in the Port Elizabeth High Court on his findings the day the school teacher’s body was discovered.
Warrant Officer Phillip Bekker testified on the 14th day in the trial involving her husband Christopher Panayiotou and his two co-accused Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko.
The three are facing charges which include murder following the discovery of Jayde’s body in a bushy area on the outskirts of Kwanobuhle on April 22 last year. The State alleges the businessman arranged a hit on his wife’s life because she was a financial burden.
On Monday, Jayde’s mother Michelle Inggs, her sister Toni and the school teacher’s friend Cherise Swanepoel held each other’s hands and sobbed for close to an hour while looking at picture after picture depicting the last moments of Jayde’s life. They continued to sit through Bekker’s testimony despite being visibly shaken by the visuals.
The school teacher was shown in a vulnerable state wearing a grey tracksuit jersey with the word “hockey†imprinted on the fabric, a tracksuit pants and white Nike takkies. For the first time close up pictures of her face were shown at different angles.
The court was shown close up shots of bullet wounds to her chest and the back of her head which was drenched in blood.
Pictures also depicted lacerations on Jayde’s neck and hands as well as her right ear which was also drenched in blood.
“When a firearm is discharged, in the back of the cartridge is a unique chemistry composition for the primer. When a person is tested positive for this residue it means a person was in close proximity of a gunshot,†said Bekker.
Bekker also explained to the court as to why he believed Jayde’s left hand was clutched as shown in one of the several pictures used as photographic evidence.
“We see this in incidents such as suicide, where the gun is clutched in the hand, despite rigour not having set in yet. The same happens in motor vehicle accident victims clutching the steering wheel.
While I cannot say that the rigour set in before, as the body was already in full rigour, it is my opinion that this is the case here. I suspect the [hand spasm] is due to trauma,†he said.
Bekker also mentioned that a shoe print on the ground matched Jayde’s takkie print, probably indicative of the school teacher’s last steps.
Jayde’s husband Christopher, who she had known since high school, displayed no signs of emotion. He occasionally dropped his head to the floor for a few moments and then looked up again as pictures of her body were shown in concession.
Close up photograph’s of Jayde’s face spattered with blood drops, her personal items such as a silver watch attached to her left wrist, a bracelet worn on her right wrist and a remote found in her track top pocket triggered no emotion in the businessman.
The Panayiotou family appeared to avoid looking at the overhead screen, family members either dropped their heads or completely looked away. At one point, Christopher’s mother, Fanoula, was seen blowing her nose.
It is alleged that Panayiotou paid Luthanodo Siyoni, a bouncer from his Infinity nightclub, to hire hitman Sizwe Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde. Vumazonke has since died.
The State alleges that Nenembe assisted Vumazonke to kidnap and murder Jayde at the behest of her husband.
After being driven to a remote area on the outskirts of Kwanobuhle where the alleged killing took place, the State claims that Vumazaonke fired two shots through Jayde’s back and a final shot through the left side of her head.
The accused face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition. The men have pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them.
Panayiotou, who was arrested shortly after his wife’s murder more than a year ago, faces an additional charge of defeating the ends of justice.
Sibeko was the last suspect to be arrested, 15 months after the murder, and has apparently been linked through cellphone mapping to being present outside Jayde’s complex in the days before her murder. However, his exact role in the events is still unclear.
The trial continues.
-African News Agency (ANA)
