Judgment Day for Panayiotou, co-accused

Judgment in the Panayiotou murder trial is expected in the High Court in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou’s lawyer, Terry Price, has been arguing that the lead investigating officer, Kanna Swanepoel, was not reliable.

Lawyers for the other accused also tried to discredit the state’s evidence.

Defence lawyer for co-accused Zolani Sibeko and Sinethemba Nenembe, Peter Dauberman, also discredited the cell phone evidence implicating his clients.

He says the state has no evidence directly implicating his clients, and their arguments are based on circumstantial evidence based on cell phone records.

Dauberman argued that there is not enough proof linking accused number four, Zolani Sibeko, to the crime.

Sibeko was arrested a year after investigations into the murder started, as he was linked to a cell phone number that was called by the late Sizwe Vumazonke (alleged hitman) during that period.

Dauberman says the evidence against Sibeko should be disregarded, as the state has no proof that the cell phone number belonged to his client.