PORT ELIZABETH, April 14 (ANA) – On the opening day of his murder trial in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday, Christopher Panayiotou spoke of being “happily married†and wanting to spend the rest of his life with his wife at their multi-million rand Lovemore Heights estate home.
By Thursday, that illusion had been shattered as a close friend laid bare the secret love life of the man charged with orchestrating the murder of his schoolteacher wife, Jayde.
Christopher Panayiotou had had a long-term adulterous affair with his mistress Chanelle Coutts, enjoying secretive romantic escapades, buying her expensive gifts and taking selfies in bed. All this as his Uitenhage schoolteacher wife Jayde jotted down heartbreaking poems about her loneliness, her longing for affection and a happy marriage with the man whom she had known since high school.
In a note Jayde expressed that all she wanted was “to be loved†and to be the “apple†of her husband’s eye, while she also agonised over why Christopher was so secretive.
On September 21 2014, Jayde wrote: “I’m jealous when I see other people living the life I so desperately long for.â€
“I don’t know if I can live this life. I don’t know how much more I can take. Why can’t I have a normal happy life. Why am I not the apple of my husband’s eye? Why does he hide so much from me and why is it impossible to communicate with him? Why do I feel like I have to constantly compete..†Jayde wrote.
The murder trial against her husband Christopher and his two co-accused Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko got underway in the Port Elizabeth High Court this week.
In giving evidence, Jayde’s sister Toni Inggs, had read out the note and told the court that she believed her sister loved Christopher “more than life itselfâ€.
However, just over a week later, on 29 September 2014, Christopher, his mistress Chanelle Coutts and the pair’s friend Clarishka Kapp were away in George to celebrate Coutts’ birthday.
In giving evidence this week, Kapp told State Prosecutor Marius Stander that the trio slept over for two nights at a hotel and she would sleep in a room on the bottom floor while Christopher and Coutts shared a room on an upper floor.
With her back towards the public gallery, Kapp further told the court that she was also aware of a getaway in which Christopher and Coutts spent time together in Summerstrand, situated along the beachfront in PE.
She said that Christopher had told her that he loved Coutts and the feeling Coutts had was mutual. Kapp said that Christopher was scared to lose his mistress. “He told me he didn’t know if he was making the right decision [to marry Jayde] because he was scared he would lose Chanelle,†she told the court.
Regardless of their betrothal, the illicit affair continued “as normal†after Jayde and Christopher tied the knot.
It also emerged that Christopher was jealous when it came to his mistress.
“Chris was jealous [over] Chanelle, he went on Facebook and observed that she was chatting to someone else, he was very jealous about that,†said Kapp.
Kapp also described that on three occasions the three friends would go over to Jayde’s home at the Stellen Glen Complex for drinks, a braai and take-aways. Jayde was excluded from those gatherings and Kapp said she did not know Jayde’s whereabouts at the time of these visits.
Kapp went on to reveal that Coutts took Christopher as a date to her sister Cindy’s wedding. She also recalled one occasion the three friends went to Panayiotou’s Infinity nightclub for drinks. Kapp said that at the time, Jayde was at her mother’s house.
It emerged that Christopher bought his mistress expensive gifts such as Polo bags, a watch and a GHD costing thousands of rands.
During most of Kapps’s testimony, Panayiotou dropped his head and stared at the floor, at one point his ears appearing to turn blood red.
Arguably the most embarrassing evidence by Kapp was about a photo she had stored on her phone of Christopher and Coutts in bed together, a photo she said was sent to her by Coutts.
Five days after Jayde went missing during April 2015, Kapp said she was told to delete the photo.
“I went to the OK Grocer, Chanelle wanted to speak to me, she was very freaked out because she had been with the police. She was scared her phone was tapped,†said Kapp.
Following the conversation between the two friends, Kapp went home and deleted the photo.
On two occasions, Panayiotou’s defence counsel, Advocate Terry Price objected to the hearsay evidence by Kapp.
Earlier, Christopher Panayiotou, in his plea explanation read out by Price, had claimed to be living happily ever after with his wife Jayde.
“I loved my wife Jayde, we made a decision to buy a house in Lovemore [Heights] for approximately R2.2 million in which we were going to move in together and hopefully spend the rest of our lives there,†his affidavit read.
The prosecution though, insisted Panayiotou was actually living a double life and was in a sense “married†to his mistress.
The week was filled with heartache and tears for the Inggs family as they heard graphic details of Jayde’s final moments and how she suffered from depression in the final months leading up to her death.
Dr Bruce du Plessis, in giving evidence, told the court this week that he had treated Jayde for “depression†after she told him she was “battling to cope with everythingâ€.
According to the State, Jayde was kidnapped on the pavement in front of her Stellen Glen complex while waiting for a lift to work at Riebeek College in Uitenhage.
After being driven to a remote area on the outskirts of Kwanobuhle where the alleged killing took place, the State claims that Sizwezakhe Vumazonke, who is now deceased, fired two shots through Jayde’s back, which according to forensic pathologist Kevin Fourie, paralysed Jayde.
“She then fell to the ground, the shooter then stood over her and shot her through the head, the State will lead evidence that she raised her hands as gunshot residue was found on her left hand,†the prosecution told the court this week.
The trial continues on Monday.
– African News Agency (ANA)
