Since the beginning of the murder trial evidence and testimony given in court revolved around accused number one, Christopher Panayiotou. He is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder of his schoolteacher wife Jayde in April 2015.
The first person to be arrested for this crime was the alleged middleman and now hostile state witness Luthando Siyoni. He allegedly gave police all the information they needed to arrest Panayiotou and the alleged hitman Sizwezhake Vumazonke.
At that time it was thought that only these three people were involved in the murder until police made a surprise breakthrough nearly four months after the crime.
The 28-year-old Sinethemba Nemembe was arrested on the 20th of August 2015 in connection with the murder of 78-year-old Denise Webber from Kabega Park in Port Elizabeth, the same area where Christopher Panayiotou lived with his wife Jayde. Police made the connection when they took a closer look at Nemembe's handset and found that his phone had been in contact with the alleged hitman Vumazonke.
A surprise breakthrough was made yet again, nearly a year after Nemembe's arrest when a fifth suspect was arrested in connection with the crime.
The 35-year-old Zolani Sibeko was arrested at his parents' home in Greenbushes, 15 months after the murder. Not much was known about Sibeko at the time or his alleged involvement. The State nevertheless charged him as a co-conspirator and he too could be facing life in prison.
The murder trial eventually started in October 2016, without accused number two and alleged hitman, Sizwezhake Vumazonke. He became ill during the pre-trial conference and died shortly before the trial commenced.
When proceedings wrapped up in December, Sibeko applied for bail. During his bail application, the court heard how Sibeko allegedly supplied the firearm that killed Jayde. The State indicated that they had a witness, Khusta Vandala who would testify that he had supplied Sibeko with the gun. On these grounds, the Judge Irma Schoeman felt that the State had a strong case against Sibeko and she denied him bail.
When the trial reconvened in June this year the State painted a clearer picture of the co-accused and how they were allegedly linked to the crime. Data Analyst Thereza Botha was called to testify for the State and connected several dots to address unanswered questions. Botha analysed their cellphone records and testified how the handset of Nemembe, Vumazonke, Siyoni, Vandala and Sibeko was in constant communication with each other in the months leading up to the murder.
That evidence appeared to show that there was never any direct communication between accused number one and any of the co-accused, except for Luthando Siyoni who was his employee.
The name of Khusta Vandala, who was expected to testify for the State, came up several times during Botha's testimony. She testified that Vumazonke's handset made contact with Vandala's phone on the morning of Jayde's murder.
Peter Daubermann who represents Sibeko and Nemembe did not waste any time during cross-examination to point out that no analysis could prove who had been using a particular handset. He also referred to the GPS co-ordinates of the rented car and said Botha could simply place the handset in the vehicle and not an actual person.
Botha agreed that there was no way of actually knowing who abducted Jayde or who was driving the vehicle on the day of her murder. Botha's testimony relied heavily on cell-phone mapping especially between different towers which showed, according to her, how Sibeko and Nemembe were in the vicinity of Jayde's house on more than one occasion for what she called "scouting" the crime scene.
Daubermann pointed out that Sibeko's handset could have been picked up by all three towers in the area simply by driving down Cape Road and not necessarily "scouting the area". Botha conceded that she could not assume that Sibeko was "scouting".
Daubermann brought his own exhibits to Court showing the RICA records of the handsets of Sibeko and Nemembe. It showed that the sim card was registered to more than one person.
The State's last witness Warrant Officer Shane Bosch said it was common practice for criminals to use different phone numbers and told the court how one could buy a sim-card which was already RICA'd for only R5 in townships. He further testified that one of the names on the Rica record was definitely fake.
Daubermann said he would argue this point when he closes his case.
Moments after the State closed its case against the accused, State Prosecutor Marius Stander asked if Daubermann would be bringing and application for a Section 174 so that he could prepare accordingly. This is an application which can be brought by the defence to ask for an acquittal due to a lack of evidence. Daubermann said he was still deciding and was considering closing his case without this application as the State had no case against his clients.
The State's witness Khusta Vandala has since gone "AWOL" and was never called to the stand to testify against Sibeko. Lead investigator, Captain Kanna Swanepoel confirmed to Algoa FM News that Vandala was 'missing' and that there was a warrant out for his arrest.
Sibeko and Nemembe are facing six charges including conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, murder and the unlawful possession of ammunition and a firearm. Christopher Panayiotou faces a seventh charge for defeating the ends of justice.
They all potentially face life in prison.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
