LISTEN | Siam Lee's alleged killer gives court 'proof' of torture by PI

A recording purportedly of Durban private investigator Brad Nathanson has been introduced as evidence of torture by lawyers defending escort Siam Lee’s alleged killer.

The businessman is engaged in a protracted application for bail‚ which has stretched over months‚ in the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old faces a raft of charges‚ including the kidnapping and murder of Lee‚ as well as the rape of another woman. He cannot be named until he has tendered a plea in relation to the rape charge.

The court had earlier heard allegations that Nathanson and his staff had tortured the man‚ suffocating him with a bag‚ during his arrest at his Assagay home in January.

The man's advocate Martin Krog had asked investigating officer Rajan Govender if he was aware of a voice note‚ alleged to be a recording of Nathanson.

Govender confirmed that Krog had played the recording for him in March‚ and confirmed the contents of a transcript matched what was played.

Krog honed in on a single line of the voice note‚ where the speaker describes a confession by the suspect “while wearing a KFC packet”.

“Nathanson made it clear that he tortured the accused and more so‚ he bragged about this to his mates‚” Krog held.

Govender said he was unable to comment on what was meant by “wearing” a plastic packet‚ and that when he’d contacted Nathanson about the voice clip‚ the PI had said that he regularly produced voice recordings.

The origin of the voice note‚ its authenticity and whether or not Nathanson was the one speaking‚ will be tested at trial.

Lee‚ who worked as an escort to support her mother‚ was last seen on January 4 outside a Durban North house that operates as a brothel. The search for the missing woman spanned KwaZulu-Natal and ended when the charred remains of a woman were found in a sugarcane field in New Hanover.

The body was later identified as that of the 20-year-old by her relatives.

The Sunday Times reported that Siam Lee had reached out to an organisation that assists sex workers‚ pleading for their help in the weeks before her murder. She detailed her despair of having to lead a double life while moving from one brothel to another‚ all the while maintaining a facade for her family and friends.