Moodley tells of Leigh's murder
2005-07-25 18:03
Johannesburg - Donovan Moodley was found guilty in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday of kidnapping and murdering student Leigh Matthews and of extorting money from her parents.
Shortly after Moodley pleaded guilty to the three charges, Judge Joop Labuschagne said, "It is clear that the accused admits all elements of the three charges.
"I find the accused guilty as charged."
Earlier Moodley had replied "guilty" when asked how he pleaded on each of the three charges relating to the death of the 21-year-old Bond University student on July 9 last year.
Moodley was clean shaven, wore a dark suit and carried a green bag with him.
Supporting him were his Baptist minister father Stephen Moodley, sister Michal and fiancee Yeshika Singh.
At first he sat with his eyes ahead and appeared composed.
Before Judge Joop Labuschagne entered, he stood up and slowly surveyed the packed court room.
When asked to plead he whispered into the microphone, as if he did not have the strength to speak loudly.
'Scared'
In his statement, read by advocate Johan Pretorius and signed by Moodley in court, he gave a detailed account of how he planned and executed the kidnapping and murder.
"I didn't know what to do. I was scared there were road blocks. I didn't want to get caught."
In another revelation he said he retrieved Leigh's ring from a pile of burnt clothes with the intention of sending it in an envelope to her parents, Rob and Sharon Matthews.
Didn't know Leigh
His statement said: "I didn't know her. My impression of the students in Bond University (from where she was kidnapped) was that they all came from wealthy families."
He confirmed that after toying with the idea, he approached her in the parking lot and under the pretext of asking for a lift drove out with her.
He spent the majority of July 9 in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, and had agreed to the R50 000 drop off after Leigh told him "my parents are not that wealthy".
'No other way out'
After the drop-off, Moodley said: "I drove around for a while and thought about how to release her.
"I did not know what to do, I could see no other way out but to kill her."
So he drove back to Walkerville.
He said after shooting her in the back of the head he spent the night at the Formula 1 Hotel.
The following day he returned to the Walkerville site burning all his and her clothes to destroy all possible evidence.
Ring
A few weeks later he returned once again after remembering that Leigh had a ring in her pocket.
"I wanted to return the ring to her parents and write them a letter. Before I could write the letter I was arrested."
Matthews body was found on July 21 by a grass cutter.
The prosecution did not dispute any of the facts, but will try to prove that he also froze her body and staged the scene of the murder.
He has not admitted to those two allegations. He said his motive was to extort money.
Left court crying
After being found guilty, Moodley, leaving the court in his shackles, began to cry.
He paused to hold hands with his father, who had sat through the verdict with his eyes closed, and began sobbing.
Moodley stumbled down the stairs as he visibly lost all his strength and when approached by the media, a woman next to his weeping father said: "We won't be commenting."
His fiancee was also in tears.
Leigh's mom 'under control'
After the court was adjourned, Leigh's mother Sharon assured her friends and family: "I am under control, I am fine."
Her father Rob said they would speak more on Tuesday, but "needed some time".
Giselle Clemson, Leigh's best friend, held their daughter Karen's hand as she too sobbed.
It was Giselle's birthday on Monday, but she said there was no other way she would want to spend it this year.
Original investigating officer Gabriel Hall also attended the proceedings and said he was relieved at the outcome.
Moodley returns to court on Tuesday for argument in mitigation of sentencing.
- SAPA