Moodley gets his day in court
2005-07-25 09:51
Johannesburg - Superintendent Piet Byleveldt confirmed that Donovan Moodley, alleged kidnapper and killer of Leigh Matthews, had arrived at the Johannesburg High Court for his trial on Monday morning.
"He is definitely inside," Byleveldt, the policeman who arrested Moodley, said.
Earlier, two police cars with sirens blaring escorted a prison van into the high court.
The trial is scheduled to start at 14:00.
Over an hour before the Johannesburg High Court opened the first television news crew arrived to cover the case.
Former Bond University student Moodley faces charges of kidnapping, extortion and the murder of fellow student Leigh Matthews, 21, in July last year.
Moodley has not pleaded to the charges.
Matthews was snatched from the Sandton campus of Bond on July 9 and her kidnapper demanded R300 000 ransom. On the same night, her father, Rob, dropped off R50 000 in an envelope on the N1 highway near the Grasmere tollgate south of the city.
But she was not returned to her parents. Instead, Matthews' body was found on July 21 by a grass cutter, metres from a Walkerville road.
The Matthews family is expected to give evidence at the trial.
Last week, it was reported that Moodley was planning to address the media on Monday.
Legal experts have warned that whatever Moodley says to the media could be used against him.
- SAPA