The alleged middleman who arranged the killers that murdered Jayde Panayiotou made a brief appearance in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Luthando Siyoni, a former employee of the convicted murderer, Christopher Panayiotou, was arrested on Monday after being on the run for five months.
He was a state witness in the Panayiotou murder trial, but his immunity was retracted when the case concluded.
He is facing a charge of murder, conspiracy to murder and kidnapping.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Tshepo Ndwalaza says: “The case could not proceed today (Tuesday) and it was postponed until tomorrow (Wednesday) for a provisional bail application and that will be set. He was the middleman in the Panayiotou case and the co-accused. At some point he was our 204th witness and he actually deviated from his main statement and was declared a hostile witness by the court. That privilege was revoked.”
The state alleges that Panayiotou used him to secure the services of hitmen to kill his wife Jayde.
Siyoni was the first person to be arrested for the murder and has turned state witness. He also assisted the investigating team to set up a video recording where Panayiotou implicates himself in the murder.
