S.Africa: Gripping evidence in Matthews murder trial

Witnesses called to testify in the Leigh Matthews murder trial provided the court with gripping facts on Wednesday, contradicting Donovan Moodley's claims that he didn't move Matthews's body after he shot her in cold blood.

On Monday, Moodley (25) was found guilty of kidnapping, extortion and the murder of Matthews, and the state is busy with arguments in mitigation of sentence.

Witnesses are being called to prove the state's theory that Moodley froze Leigh's body for 12 days after murdering her, and that he then staged the murder scene by placing four empty firearm cartridges near her body.

Moodley confessed he shot Matthews in the back of the head, dragged her to nearby bushes and shot her a further three times.

Police Inspector Jean Nieuwenhuys, a ballistics expert, told the court that he is of the opinion that Matthews was "not shot in Walkerville where she was found".

He confirmed that Matthews was shot four times, once in the neck at close range and three times elsewhere shortly afterwards, at a further distance away from her.

He added that the direction of the spent firearm cartridge cases to the right of the body did not coincide with the direction of the wounds on the body.

"The position of the cartridges was not consistent," he said.

"If the deceased was shot at the scene, you would have found shells more to the right of the body [than it was found]," said Nieuwenhuys.

Bullets caused 'maximum damage'

He further explained that the bullets used on Matthews are known as "dum-dum" bullets on the streets -- they have hollow points and are known to cause "maximum damage" to a body.

He also said that bullets fired at such close range would have gone through the body, and sunk into the ground.

Nieuwenhuys identified a black-and-silver handgun as the one used to kill Matthews, and demonstrated that the gun had been held sideways.

Moodley's defence argued that the shells may have deflected off the body, landing in unusual positions, and that long grass may have played a role.

During the tea break, Moodley's family shouted "Don, Don" to get his attention, offering him some encouragement while he made his way down to the holding cell.

"We love you, Don," was heard from one of his family members as he disappeared down the stairs.

Coincidentally, the tense-looking Matthews family remained seated and chatted to each other.

Karin Matthews -- Leigh's sister -- sat pale-faced in between her parents, chewing gum and frowning occasionally at the people in the courtroom. Her father, Rob Matthews, gave her an encouraging hug at the same time Moodley was being offered words of encouragement by his family.

Entomological evidence

Two entomologists testified that the lack of maggots and fly eggs on the body suggested it could not have been there for longer than a day.

Dr Mervyn Mansell was asked whether there was a possibility that the body had been lying at the Walkerville spot from the time of the murder.

"I would regard that as highly unlikely and impossible in terms of my entomological evidence," he replied.

Mansell said that with daytime temperatures of above 15 degrees Celsius, despite the winter season, and direct exposure to sunlight, flies would have laid eggs within a day.

"The only thing I found of the victim was a spider ... nothing [else].

"I actually took a bottle ... and scooped it up," he said.

"The fact that no fly eggs or maggots were detected on the body indicates this was a very fresh crime scene," he testified.

Mansell also testified to returning to the crime scene two weeks ago to perform a test on the presence of flies in the area. Together with Sergeant Andre Massyn, who also testified on Wednesday, he set four bait stations to attract flies.

"Approximately five minutes after placing the bait at the exact site, the first flies began to arrive," Mansell read from his report.

"This indicates that adult flies, that immediately lay eggs on a body, were present at that time of the year. The fact that no fly eggs or maggots were detected on the body indicates that this was a fresh crime scene."

In October, Mansell issued a report to the police estimating a post-mortem interval of 24 hours.

He had returned to the crime scene on July 12 this year to determine whether flies were active in the area, the court heard. He set live chicken livers as bait at the exact location where the body was found.

A police officer specialising in the study of insects and a spider expert also testified that the body could not have been at the scene for longer than a day.

Professor Ansie Dippenaar told the court that the web of a common funnel-web spider was discovered between Matthews's thighs.

However, the web was in an "infant" stage and could not have been older than a few hours.

"The body was placed on top of a web, and in self-defence the spider moved from the destroyed web to the side, but it had not settled to start a new one," she said.

"These spiders build extensive webs [as big as 20cm], but the web reflected in the photographs [taken at the crime scene] was in the very early stages of construction, probably not more than a few hours."

Photographers in hot water

When the day's proceedings were concluded, lawyers lashed out at photographers sneaking pictures of Moodley in the dock.

His fuming defence counsel, Johan Pretorius, threatened to lay criminal charges against them.

He would go down to Moodley, take a statement and lay charges, Pretorius warned.

Just as angry, state prosecutor Zaais van Zyl pleaded the trial not be turned into "a circus".

The photographers had been allowed to enter the court building with their equipment to take pictures of the gun that forms part of the evidence.

Meanwhile, Karen Matthews leaned against her father while listening to the commotion, looking exhausted. She appeared cold and shuddered numerous times as people made their way out of the courtroom.

Sharon Matthews -- Leigh's mother -- remained composed and stood in the doorway while the Moodley family made their way out the courtroom. Matthews made absolutely no eye contact with any of them.

Outside the court, Moodley's fiancée, Yeshika Singh, flashed around a letter bearing the bright red logo of You magazine, which she claimed was its offer of R5 000 for her exclusive story.

Moodley and Singh wore matching black pin-striped jackets for Wednesday's court appearance -- the third day of the trial.

Earlier in the day, Sharon Matthews said she was "absolutely fine".

"I don't let anything terrify me any more," she said in response to some of the graphic testimony, including details of a post-mortem carried out on her daughter.

Sharon arrived at court with Karen, who had been too upset to attend proceedings on Tuesday. Sharon insisted: "We are absolutely fine.

"Last night we had a quiet night and watched [TV reality show] The Amazing Race, which I love."

The hearing continues on Thursday.

Source: Daily Mail & Guardian

URL: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articlei...