Lover tells court he was not responsible for tycoon's murder

17 March 2016 - 02:55 By Roxanne Henderson

Thulani Cele, the man accused of murdering Johannesburg tycoon Jeff Wiggill, 54, allegedly told police that the two had been lovers. This was the testimony of a police officer in Cele's murder trial in the Johannesburg High Court, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, yesterday.Cele also told Lieutenant-Colonel Bhekikhaya Nazo, who arrested him a week after Wiggill's murder, that he saw a man known only as Mandla shoot Wiggill.He could not provide any further details about Mandla.Wiggill's body was found with three gunshot wounds to the head next to his black Bentley in an open field in Protea Glen, Soweto, in June 2013. Wiggill was the chairman of bankrupt engineering conglomerate, First Tech.Cele, 40, who was Wiggill's friend and a First Tech employee, is accused of the murder and has pleaded not guilty. The prosecution alleges Wiggill paid Cele R100000 to kill him.Cele has admitted he was with Wiggill on the evening of his death. The court previously heard that Cele's cellphone records placed him at the murder scene.Nazo's testimony is the subject of a trial-within-a-trial, with Judge Majake Mabesele still to rule whether it would be admissible in the main trial. Defence attorney Boitumelo Lesomo said Cele had been assaulted by the police and forced to make a statement...

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