New sleuth to tackle Leigh Matthews development
A new investigating officer has been appointed to the Leigh Matthews murder case after a second person was traced to the ransom exchange location on the night she was killed, prosecutor Zaais van Zyl said on Saturday.
“The case was never closed. It is a continuing investigation,” said Van Zyl.
He confirmed that a new investigating officer had been appointed and said he had met with her.
“It is just that director Piet Byleveld [who had worked on the case] is not working for the police anymore.”
In a book, Byleveld claimed that a friend of convicted killer Donovan Moodley was at the scene of the ransom exchange of the 21-year-old student.
Byleveld names the man in his biography: Byleveld: Dossier of a serial sleuth and said he was traced to the location via his cell phone.
Moodley was found guilty of murdering Matthews after he kidnapped her from the Bond University campus in Sandton, Johannesburg, in July 2004.
He held her for several hours before taking R50000 ransom money from her father, and then shot her.
He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, 15 years for the kidnapping and 10 years for extortion.
In August this year, Moodley asked for a retrial to prove who her real killers were.
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In his affidavit, he said that three drug dealers, called Frank, Allie and Jemba, forced him to kidnap Matthews.
He states that Frank called Matthew’s family and demanded a ransom of R300000 and that Jemba shot her in the back of the head, while he was forced to watch.
Van Zyl told South African Press Association papers were being finalised for Moodley’s application.
“We hope to hand in papers to the court in the week ahead.”—Sapa
