Siam suspect sings in court about suffering at hands of PI

After 40 days behind bars‚ the man accused of the murder of escort Siam Lee took the stand in his bid for freedom and revealed the moments which led up to his arrest.

He laid bare allegations of torture in detention at the hands of Durban PI Brad Nathanson‚ who had effected his arrest and who was earlier accused of tainting the investigation.

This was done‚ his advocate Martin Krog claimed‚ by way of splashing an image of his arrest on Facebook‚ illegally arresting his client‚ illegally searching his home and torturing him.

The 29-year-old businessman faces a raft of 16 charges‚ including the kidnapping and murder of Lee.

Lee‚ an escort‚ was last seen on January 4 outside a Durban North house operating as a brothel. While the search for her spanned the province‚ her charred remains were found in a sugarcane field in New Hanover in the KZN Midlands two days later.

She was later identified by her mother and other relatives who viewed her body at the state mortuary in New Hanover.

The accused's testimony‚ led by Krog‚ provided a window into the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

The man said on the day he was arrested‚ he had arrived at his Assagay home to find that his car‚ which had been parked in the garage‚ was missing.

"I was walking toward it [the garage] when I noticed that the black Mercedes was not there. I also noticed that an entire window panel of the garage had been ripped off‚” he said.

As he moved to retrieve his cell phone from his car‚ a car pulled into his driveway.

"A white gentleman with tattoos got out‚ I know now that he is Brad Nathanson. He pointed a gun at me and swore at me as he ordered me to open the gate. They told me that I had murdered Siam Lee‚ to which I responded that I had never murdered anyone."

Handcuffed and prostrate on the floor‚ the man claimed he was beaten by Nathanson and his employee Shane Brits.

"They were punching me and kicking me‚ both Brits and Nathanson‚ and I was screaming in pain. One of my neighbours came running with her daughter and tried to intervene‚” he said.

He said that once the concerns of his neighbour were rebuffed‚ he was hauled out of view and “choked and strangled” until he relinquished the pass code for his cell phone.

After he was arrested‚ he was charged with the rape and kidnapping of another woman. As a result he cannot be named until he tenders a plea.

His testimony continues.