Leigh Matthews’s killer, Donovan Moodley, has failed in yet another quest for freedom.
Moodley appeared before the parole board at the Joburg Medium B Prison in Diepkloof, Soweto, on Wednesday, where after a lengthy presentation he was again denied parole.
This was his second attempt at being freed and will most probably not be his last.
In November 2009, five years into his life sentence for murder, he released an open letter in which he wrote: “I want to make this clear. I will stop at nothing, leaving no legal means untried. It is my right to pursue justice.”
Moodley qualified for early parole thanks to a recent development in law that allowed prisoners serving out life sentences, but whose offences were committed during a specific period, to apply for parole before serving out their full sentences.
He was jailed for life in October 2004 for the kidnapping and murder of student Leigh Matthews. He pleaded guilty to the crime, but has changed his version numerous times — each time petitioning the courts with his appeals, efforts to get a new trial, going as far as the Constitutional Court where he once again failed and the matter was thrown out.
Last year Moodley was given a parole hearing. There, he faced the Matthews family and was given the opportunity to plead his case. He upset mom Sharon Matthews when he gloated about having gained a law degree, commenting that he felt bad realising that Leigh would never graduate. And he upset dad Rob with yet another version of what happened the night he murdered the 21-year-old student.
In his first confession, Moodley admitted to having kidnapped Leigh, taken money from her father, and then after deciding that he could not release her because she could recognise him, he ordered her to undress before shooting her four times.
But at the hearing last year, he claimed he had not intended to murder Leigh but that she had frightened him with a sudden outburst, causing him to “accidentally” shoot her in the head. He felt immediate regret, he said, and did not want her to suffer, so he shot her another three times out of mercy.
Unconvinced by Moodley’s efforts, the parole board found he was not fit for parole and sent him back to prison.
Enraged by his failure, Moodley returned to the courts. He filed an action calling for a new hearing on grounds that he was not treated fairly, describing their decision as “grossly irrational”. In numerous court petitions he claimed irregularities in the social worker’s findings and complained of disrespectful treatment at the hearing.
“My rights were not granted and I was treated very badly, and yet I did not get angry in a situation where a person could rightfully and justifiably get very, very angry,” he told the court, claiming the Matthews family and officials had not treated him well.
When we encountered him last time, we were able to see him for the conniving individual he is. We were scared then that we might have got it wrong, but we got it so right. He is unremorseful, he has no regard for anyone but himself.
— Rob Matthews
He denied the finding that he had been untruthful, claiming that he had shot Leigh unintentionally, because it was still part of a premeditated act.
“I argue that the first shot was not an execution shot, it was out of panic. I then shot her three more times to make sure she was dead.”
He complained that the Matthews “expressed outrage” when he told how he had graduated with an LLB, had been accepted to do an LLM and also “did a course on economic crime”.
“Apart from my crime, which has also traumatised me, the parole board hearing was the most traumatic experience I have ever had,” Moodley claimed.
His application was granted by the Johannesburg high court.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium before the parole board’s decision was announced, Rob Matthews said while the family had been extremely nervous ahead of last year’s parole hearing, this time they were ready to face up to Moodley. They had opposed parole in the strongest terms.
“When we encountered him last time, we were able to see him for the conniving individual he is. We were scared then that we might have got it wrong, but we got it so right. He is unremorseful, he has no regard for anyone but himself,” Matthews said.
He read a statement on behalf of Leigh’s sister, Karen, spoken on behalf of the family.
Parole expert Prof Lukas Muntingh, director of the Dullah Omar Institute and project co-ordinator for Africa Criminal Justice Reform, said while offenders may be afforded the right to a parole hearing, they did not automatically qualify for release as the system allowed for the board to make that decision.
“The courts impose a sentence that they see fit, then it is up to correctional services to determine how an offender has behaved, if they have kept themselves out of trouble. But at the end of the day, it is for the parole board to decide. And even in a case like this, where you have an offender with a very litigious nature, it’s difficult to judge his behaviour,” Muntingh said.
“While he may qualify for early parole, it is not automatically granted. And even if it is, there is a process that follows in which he will be given a release date, he will follow a pre-release programme, and there will be various verifications on his support system, where he will stay, where he will be employed and how he will be monitored.”
Muntingh said parole conditions were generally onerous to start off with but would generally relax over time if the offender behaves well. Parole, he said, would last for the rest of the offender’s prison sentence. In Moodley’s case, this would have been for the rest of his life.
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