AlgoaFM News
The defence in the trial of 41-year-old Luthando Siyoni has concluded its cross-examination of key state witness and wife-killer Christopher Panayiotou.
He was on the stand for a second straight day in the High Court in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
Siyoni's lawyer, Advocate Siphokazi Cubungu, questioned Panayiotou on why he pleaded not guilty to the 2015 murder of his wife, Jayde and even taking his case to the highest court in the land to have his conviction overturned while knowing that he had played a vital role in her murder.
Advocate Cubungu came out guns blazing referring back to Panayiotou's evidence on Monday where he said the murder was planned because he could not handle the stress and expectations put on him by both Jayde and his father.
She bluntly asked him why he did not just take his own life instead of killing another human being.
She then showed him a close-up picture of Jayde's body insisting he looks at his "end prize" - asking if that relieved his stress, to which he replied 'no'.
Advocate Cubungu also wanted to know why Panayiotou testified for the State and what he got out of it.
Panayiotou told the court that he wanted to testify in the case and got nothing for it in return.
He said he is serving a life sentence in prison and when he leaves the witness box he will still be serving life.
He again testified that he had committed a horrible crime that destroyed families.
The sting video set up by the Hawks where Panayiotou and Siyoni are secretly filmed discussing the murder was again shown in court after the defence stated that Siyoni was not a willing participant in the plot to kill Jayde but caved in due to Christopher Panayiotou's insistence.
Siyoni did not watch the video shown in court.
Panayiotou was later excused as a witness and the trial continues.
