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Moodley 'forced' to murder Matthews

Nov 18, 2009 11:04 PM | By SIPHO MASONDO and LERATO MAKOMENE

Convicted killer Donovan Moodley blamed the murder of Leigh Matthews on the media.


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Rob Matthews, father of Leigh Matthews, speaks to the media after attending the appeal case of Donovan Moodley in Johannesburg
Rob Matthews, father of Leigh Matthews, speaks to the media after attending the appeal case of Donovan Moodley in Johannesburg
Photograph by: DANIEL BORN

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His advocate, Charles Thompson, told the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, that his client had planned to kidnap Matthews, extort a ransom from her parents and then release her.

Thompson was speaking in support of Moodley's application for leave to appeal against his life sentence.

In a statement read to Judge Loop Labuschagne, who sentenced him and who came out of retirement to hear his appeal, Moodley said his plans went wrong during the media storm around Matthews' disappearance, driving him to murder her on the "spur of the moment".

"The plan was to kidnap, extort and then release her," Thompson told the court.

"Due to media hype, the court may have given undue consideration to the demands of society," Thompson said, adding that Moodley had made a last-minute decision to kill Matthews in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg.

Moodley shot her once in the head and twice in the chest.

Thompson argued that the state failed to prove that the murder was premeditated, and said another court could have come to a different conclusion regarding his sentence.

Prosecutor Zaais van Zyl argued that the application should not be granted and that the "book should be closed" because the continuation of litigation was painful for Matthews' family and friends .

Matthews' mother, Sharon, sat quietly sobbing in the public gallery. She told The Times: "He's playing games. He should stop wasting taxpayers' money."

In 2005, Moodley was sentenced to life imprison for Matthews' murder, and an additional 15 years for kidnapping and 10 years for attempting to extort R50,000 from her family.

Judgment will be handed down next Wednesday.

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Comments

Nov 19 2009 05:19:49 AM
PrettyBoy
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Shot Leigh at spur moment..rubbish pure rubbish...you kill the poor woman in cold blood...three bullets!!! damn...hang the idiot
Nov 19 2009 05:56:49 AM
pws80
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To give you an idea of how the defence lawyer and Moodley are lying. Leigh was killed on Friday, and the press only found out about her disappearance on the following Sunday, or two days later.

This is an email sent by Leigh Matthews father for distribution to the Leigh Matthews support group.

"Hi Andre

Trust you are well. This is a short update of today’s proceedings in court. Would it be appropriate to send this to the supporter group? If you are OK with it will you do it for me?


“Sharon, a few close friends and I attended proceedings in court today. Moodley’s defence led arguments as to why Moodley should receive a reduced sentence. It was very technical and seemed to hinge on the meaning of premeditated murder. He also spoke about the impact of the media on Moodley and implied that this had a bearing on his decision to shoot Leigh. He conveniently forgot to tell the Judge that the media only got involved on the Sunday. Leigh was murdered on the Friday. Does he really believe the Judge will fall for such a cheap trick?

Moodley in his statement of guilt admitted in writing that he planned to kill Leigh. If this is not premeditated then I don’t know. In the original trial in 2005 he was asked if he understood the impact of his statement. He confirmed his understanding and then signed the document in the presence of the Judge and everyone else in court that day. It is incomprehensible that his defence now claims that the Judge should have made sure that Moodley understood the content of his sworn statement. Moodley is an educated person; in fact he was registered at Bond University for tertiary education. In addition there is no doubt that his defence team at the trial in 2005 advised him of the content and import of his statement. Why ! I ask, has it taken 4 years for Moodley to work out that he may have been prejudiced? Now if this isn’t an attempt to manipulate the law I don’t what is!

The State, in our opinion, through Zaais van Zyl put up a convincing arguments to reject the claims made by Moodley and requested that the appeal to be rejected

The presiding Judge is experienced and no doubt has seen theses attempts to manipulate the law before. We are hopeful that this application by Moodley fails, we will know next Wednesday. Thank you all for your thoughts and support

Sharon Karen and Rob Matthews “

from www.eblockwatch.co.za

The judge needs to censure the defence attorney. In fact, with such a blatant lie, the attorney should be disbarred.
Nov 19 2009 06:11:05 AM
v3
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Moodley's original plan may not have included murder, but he changed his plan to save his skin. The murder was NOT a spur-of-the-moment thing but premeditated (after the plan changed). His sentence should be extended for wasting the court's time and lack of remorse.

While lawyers do have a duty to do the best for their clients, Charles Thompson has overstepped the line and should serve time alongside of his client.

(Disclosure of interest: I have no connection with the Mathews, Moodley or Thompson families or with the case in any way except as a citizen)
Nov 19 2009 06:53:59 AM
afrique
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u did the crime and now u are to be punished for that, who gives u the right to kidnap and then murder an innocent girl - stop making excuses and pay the price, pity we dont have the death penalty..........criminals like u deserve the death penalty.....u are such a fool.........
Nov 19 2009 07:08:22 AM
hoodoo
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when someone wants to commit suicide and jump off a building, the group will shout JUP JUMP JUMP...only we were not there to tell this idiot to jump.

He killed her...murder was on his mind from the beginning...

Bring back the death penalty...saves money and the victims can find closure...
Nov 19 2009 07:29:47 AM
ThembaM
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Who cares what his plan was?

He wasn't on trial and found guilty for what he planned to do but for what was proven he did.

I know even Labuschagne can't believe he came out of retirement for this sh!t.
Nov 19 2009 07:36:15 AM
chris van der merwe
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Two things have galvanised the ordinary South African. White, not white and everything in between.

Ras Dumisani - everybody thought he was a do*os, include the YCL.
Everybody wants Moodley to die/hang/stay in jail forever.

All this within the space of 5 days. Good stuff. Now, if we can do the same for politics........
Nov 19 2009 07:45:06 AM
ugen
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Shoot the bastard
Nov 19 2009 07:58:42 AM
AntonS
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Me, I am sick of the liberal constitution and liberal judges, magistrates and lawyers who have no interest in justice in South Africa, but merely to perpetuate their parasitic self-congratulatory system on the rest of us while the simple-minded masses just accept the status quo, that is the SA justice system.

We need to think out of the box a bit and do it completely differently. Turfing out what we have and make a model that serves the nation, without the in-house liberal old boys club at the helm, who care little about justice but more about the adulation they receive from the bottom-feeders.
Nov 19 2009 08:13:01 AM
mjava
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his client had planned to kidnap Matthews, extort a ransom from her parents and then release her.
-------------------------------------------
and then go to jail?Wow what a plan,you numb skull.Now if only Fikile and Nathi could unleash they "shoot, shoot,shoot some more & ask questions when everybody is dead" cowboys on this idiot.


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