Donovan Moodley, who was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of student Leigh Matthews will launch the appeal of his sentence in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday.
Moodley is already serving his sentence, which is running concurrently with 15 years for the kidnapping and 10 years for extorting ransom money from Matthews’ father.
Moodley kidnapped Matthews and successfully extorted a ransom for her return. However, after a massive publicity campaign to find her, a grass cutter found her body in the veld at Walkerville, south of Johannesburg. She was naked and had been shot.
Forensic evidence presented to the court during his trial showed that her body had been subjected to low temperatures and that the presence of a spider on her body showed that her body had been dumped shortly before being discovered, leading police to believe that he had help. – Sapa