A story in a Sunday newspaper alleging that murdered student Leigh Matthews’ father might have contributed to her death by not paying the full ransom, was ”pure speculation”, police said.
Superintendent Chris Wilken said he was not prepared to comment on speculation of that nature.
”The senior police officer [who gave the information to the newspaper] must rather keep quiet and allow the investigating team to do their job,” Wilken said.
”We are making progress, but we can’t say when we expect an arrest.”
Rapport on Sunday reported that Leigh’s father, Rob Matthews, may have only paid R50 000 of the R350 000 ransom demanded by his daughter’s kidnappers in July.
It was however not known whether he could only raise R50 000 or whether he decided on his own not to pay the full amount, the newspaper said.
The last time he spoke to his daughter after she had been kidnapped, she apparently begged him to comply with the kidnappers’ demands. This information was revealed by a senior police officer who wanted to remain anonymous, the newspaper said.
It was also reported that some time before her death, Matthews had dropped Leigh at a party in Walkerville, De Deur, near where her naked body was eventually found almost two weeks after she had been kidnapped.
The police, according to Rapport, said Matthews could possibly be blamed for his daughter’s death because he did not involve them sooner after she had gone missing. Police had methods of dealing with kidnappings which could have saved the 21-year-old student’s life.
On Friday Matthews refused to answer questions put to him by the newspaper on the ransom amount and whether he had actually dropped Leigh at a party in Walkerville some time before her disappearance. – Sapa