Moodley engagement 'broken off'

2005-07-29 15:28

Johannesburg - Convicted killer Donovan Moodley will know his fate next Thursday when his sentence is handed down, but his world has already crumbled.

Moodley's engagement to sweetheart Yeshika Singh was broken off when he "realised he would be going to prison for a lengthy period of time".

This was revealed during final arguments in the Johannesburg High Court, where Moodley's defence argued he still had some good in him and did not deserve to go to prison for life.

But despite this Singh said she would stand by her man, according to a newspaper report. "Love cannot be dissolved overnight," she was quoted as saying.

Testified

Moodley cried in court on Thursday when his father testified to feeling "ashamed" of being associated with such a heinous crime. He was also slapped with a confiscation order from the Asset Forfeiture Unit to repay the R50 000 ransom money.

On Monday, Moodley confessed to kidnapping and murdering student Leigh Matthews and to extorting money from her parents. He was instantly found guilty by judge Joop Labuschagne.

For the remainder of the week state prosecutor Zaais Van Zyl used police officers, scientists and a pathologist to prove Moodley had not confessed to everything. Van Zyl alleged Moodley also froze Matthews' body for 12 days before staging the scene of the crime.

In his final argument, defence advocate Johan Pretorius argued that where the shooting took place, and whether the body was frozen, could not "make the murder more serious than what had already been admitted to".

Aspects

"It is improbable that the accused, after admitting everything, would lie about these aspects," Pretorius said.

"The accused is adamant he shot and killed her where the body was found."

Pretorius also said Moodley had broken off the engagement as he did not want to "bind his fiancee to a relationship which would come to nothing".

The advocate reminded the court of Moodley's clean record and achievements at school, on the sports field and in the workplace.

"The accused shows sincere remorse for his deeds, the life he took and the suffering he caused the Matthews family. This is demonstrated by way of his pleas of guilty. He is ashamed of what he did."

Pretorius said there was no evidence indicating Moodley would commit another crime.

Dark side

"It is evident that there is a dark side to his personality ... experience shows that this reaction (guilty plea) is not the reaction of a person devoid of conscience, but rather the conduct of a person who still has some good left in him.

"There is no need to remove the accused from society permanently, by imposing a life sentence. But because of the nature of the murder the only appropriate sentence would be that of a long-term imprisonment."

However, prosecutor Van Zyl urged the court to give Moodley life imprisonment for the murder charge, 15 for extortion and more than 16 years for the kidnapping.

- SAPA