Christopher Panayiotou back in court
Port Elizabeth businessman Christopher Panayiotou, accused of orchestrating the murder of his schoolteacher wife, is expected back in the city’s magistrate’s court on Friday.
Panayiotou and his two co-accused, Sizwezakhe Vumazonke and Sinethemba Nenembe, made a last court appearance in January.
The Port Elizabeth businessman is accused of masterminding his wife’s murder in April last year.
He is alleged to have hired Vumazonke and Nenembe to kidnap and kill 29-year-old school teacher, Jayde Panayiotou.
In Janauary, the court heard that Panayioutou was likely to stand trial in July and that the investigation was not yet completed.
State Prosecutor Marius Stander indicated that the NPA had made an application to the Department of Homeland Security in the United States, this in order to retrieve the data from Christopher Panyiotou’s cellphone.
During Panayiotou’s previous bail application it emerged that the cellphone data would be almost impossible to retrieve.
Panayiotou had previously indicated in court documents that he had had the data wiped to remove traces of his extramarital affair with employee Chanelle Coutts.
It emerged that the State has sought legal assistance from the US Department of Homeland Security in order to retrieve Whatsapp messages and Facebook content.
Panayiotou was initially denied bail in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court and then again in the Grahamstown High Court when he appealed that decision.
The case made international headlines after the shock arrest of Jayde’s husband just days after her body was found dumped in Uitenhage.
The school teacher was allegedly abducted while waiting for an early morning lift to work.
The State alleges Panayiotou had her killed because she was a financial burden.
She was reportedly hit on the head and placed in the boot of her abductor’s car. She was then apparently shot at close range – twice in the back and once in the head.