Moodley's statement

2005-07-25 18:58

Johannesburg - I, the undersigned, Donovan Samuel Moodley do hereby plead guilty to kidnapping (count 1), extortion (count 2) and murder (count 3).

I tender this plea freely and voluntarily and is fully aware of my rights and hereby state as follows:

1. I confirm that I am fully aware of the allegations in all the charges preferred against me.

2. I further confirm that I am fully aware of and have been informed by my counsel of my rights, namely:

2.1 That I am presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

2.2 That I can not be compelled to give self-incriminating evidence, and that if I so wish, can remain silent and do not have to testify during these proceedings.

3.1 I hereby plead guilty

3.2 I hereby confirm that I plead guilty of my own free will. Nobody has influenced me in any manner whatsoever to plead guilty, nor were I made any promises.

3.3 I further confirm that I am fully aware of the consequences of this plea, namely that I can be convicted on these charges to which I have pleaded guilty, without the State having to call witnesses or tender any evidence to the charges against me.

3.4 I also confirm that I am aware of the serious nature of the charges to which I have pleaded guilty, as well as the minimum sentences prescribed by section 51 of Act 105 of 1997.

4. Admissions

4.1 Count 1 - Kidnapping

4.1.1 I admit that:

(i) On 9 July 2004, at the Bond University in Sandton, I approached Leigh Matthews with the intention to kidnap her for the purpose as set out in paragraph 4.2 below.

(ii) Under the pretence of asking for a lift I got into her car and after that I held her at gunpoint. I eventually tied her up and put her into my vehicle. In doing so I deprived her of her freedom of movement and actually kept her a prisoner for my own purpose as will be fully set out below.

(iii) I had the intention to deprive her of her liberty and freedom of movement.

(iv) My actions as aforesaid were unlawful.

(v) Kidnapping is an offence as contemplated in section 51(2)(c) read with Schedule 2 Part iv of Act 105 of 1997.

4.2 Extortion

4.2.1 I admit that

(i) I kidnapped the deceased to extort a large sum of money from her parents.

(ii) After she was kidnapped on the 9th of July 2004, I phoned her parents and demanded a ransom of R300 000 for their daughter's release and threatened to kill her if they did not comply or go to the police.

(iii) By doing so I inspired fear in her parents' minds and her father agreed to pay the ransom for his daughter's release.

(iv) Later during the evening of 9 July 2004, her father handed to me an amount of R50 000 as a result of my demands.

Her father earlier explained to me he could only manage to get together R50 000.

(v) I subjected Mr Rob and Mrs Sharon Matthews to pressure and inspired fear with the intention to extort a sum of money from them for their daughter's safety and release.

(vi) My actions as aforesaid were unlawful. I had no right to kidnap their daughter and further had no right of demanding any money from them for the release of their daughter.

(vii) Extortion is an offence as contemplated in section 51(2)(c) read with schedule 2 Part IV of Act 105 of 1997.

4.3 Murder

4.3.1 I admit that:

(i) On 9 July 2004, after I had received the R50 000 ransom from Mr Matthews, I drove around with the deceased; still tied up.

(ii) After doing so for quite a while, I did not know what to do with her or how to release her without being caught, I was afraid there might be roadblocks and drove back to a secluded spot in Walkerville where we had been earlier in the day.

(iii) When we got to Walkerville, I realised that I did not have any other way out but to kill her. We sat for a few minutes after which I told her to get out of the vehicle. Thereafter I shot her at point blank range in the back of her head, with the intention to kill her.

(iv) After I shot her in the head I pulled her into the bushes or long grass where I fired a further three shots at her to ensure that she was dead. One of these shots hit her in the neck and the other two in the chest.

(v) The cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds.

(vi) I caused the death of the deceased by shooting her four times with my firearm.

(vii) I did not shoot her on the spur of the moment but decided and planned to kill her as fully set out in paragraph 5.26 below.

(viii) I caused the death of the deceased unlawfully.

(ix) This was a premeditated murder as contemplated in section 51(1) read with Part 1 paragraph (a) of Schedule 2 of Act 105 of 1997.

4.4 At the time when I committed the crimes as stated in paragraph 4.1 to 4.3 I fully realised and knew that my actions were unlawful and punishable by law.

5. Backgrounds and Facts:

5.1 The background and facts of the case which form the basis of my plea and admissions are as follows:

5.2 I was enrolled as a student at Bond University in Sandton for the first term of 2004 which ended on 24 April 2004.

5.3 The deceased, although I did not know her prior to this incident, was also a student at the said university during 2004.

5.4 My impression of the majority of the students at the university was that they came from wealthy families.

5.5 Prior to July 2004, I started to toy with the idea of kidnapping one of the students and demand a large ransom. After I toyed with the idea, I decided to do it and started to plan how I would kidnap a student and how I would go about demanding payment of a large amount of money for the victim's release.

5.6 In the execution of the said plan, I booked into a Formula One Hotel in Sandton on the 6th of July 2004 for eight days. I used the hotel as a base to work from to execute my plan.

5.7 I then went to the campus and the 7th, 8th and 9th of July in search of a suitable victim. On every occasion I took my licensed firearm, a 9mm Taurus pistol with in order to overcome any resistance of a possible victim. The firearm was fully loaded at all times.

5.8 On Friday the 9th of July 2004 at about 10:0, I noted the deceased approaching her vehicle.

5.9 As there were no other people in the close proximity of the deceased, I decided on her as a victim in the execution of my plan to extort a large amount of money from her parents.

5.10 I went to her as she got into her vehicle and pretended (as a student) to ask for a lift to a certain robot in the area. She agreed and I got into the vehicle and we drove off.

5.11 A we reached the said robot, I took out my firearm, held her at gunpoint and forced her to stop. There I forced her to lie down on the back seat of her car. I drove to a park in Randburg where I tied her up and gagged her with brown buff tape which I brought with for that purpose and also blindfolded her with a balaclava. I them put her in the boot compartment of her vehicle, after I had folded the seats in the down position. All the time I kept her under control with the firearm.

5.12 Thereafter I drove back to the university and parked outside the campus, as I had to fetch my vehicle from inside the campus.

5.13 Before I went to fetch my vehicle, I pretended to the deceased that I was going to sell her vehicle. I warned her to remain inside her vehicle and to refrain from making any noises, or else the people I was going to sell her vehicle to, might harm her. This I did to persuade her from trying anything or make any noise to attract attention whilst I was away fetching my vehicle. I also pretended to her that we were in someone's yard.

5.14 After I had fetched my vehicle, I transferred the deceased to my vehicle. I put her in the boot area of my vehicle after I folded down the seats.

5.15 I then drove to the Walkerville area where we spent the rest of the day whilst carrying out the rest of my plan to demand and extort money.

5.16 When we arrived at Walkerville at a secluded spot, I explained to the deceased that I was holding her to demand an mount of ransom from her parents.

5.17 The deceased then gave me her mother's telephone number. I then phoned Mrs Matthews and informed her that I had kidnapped her daughter. I used the deceased's cellular phone for this purpose.

5.18 Shortly after that I phoned the deceased's father. I explained to Mr Matthews that I had his daughter and demanded an amount of R300 000 for her release. I told him that I would phone him later in the day to make the necessary arrangements as to where the money was to be handed over. Mr Matthews was also warned not to contact the police or else I would kill his daughter. At a later stage I allowed the deceased to phone her mother as to explain what was happening.

5.19 At about 7pm I called Mr Matthews. He said he could only manage to get hold of R50 000, whereupon I said it was in order, because the deceased told me earlier her parents were not wealthy. Mr Matthews was then given directions to a bridge on the N1 highway, just before the Grassmere Toll Plaza. I told him to be there at 8pm, to stop under the bridge and to flash his vehicle's lights three times to identify him to me. I also told him that once the money is counted and everything was in order, his daughter would be released at a public place, where she would then phone him.

5.20 At this stage the deceased was still in my vehicle, alive and still tied up.

5.21 Shortly before 8pm I drove to the bridge in question and parked my vehicle in the vicinity of the island, between the north and southbound lanes.

5.22 At 8pm there was no sign of Mr Matthews' vehicle. I phoned him to enquire as to what was going on. He explained that he mistakenly drove past the bridge. I instructed him to turn back on the other side of the highway and to stop at the bridge. 5.23 After a while Mr Matthews stopped at the bridge. He flashed his vehicle's lights as arranged. I got out of my vehicle and approached his vehicle from behind, hit with my hand on his vehicle's back and demanded the money. I told him to throw out the money and to drive off. 5.24 I took it for granted that the person inside the vehicle had been Mr Matthews who then dropped an envelope on the ground as requested. He drove off. I picked up the envelope and ran back to my vehicle. 5.25 Thereafter I drove north on the N1 highway. The deceased was still in my vehicle, still alive and tied up.

5.26 For a while I drove around and thought of how I could release the deceased without being caught or identified later. I could not come up with a satisfactory solution and did not know what to do. I thought there would be roadblocks and then I drove back to the same secluded spot at Walkerville where I kept her during the course of the day.

After I stopped there I realised that I did not have any other way out but to kill her and took the decision then and there to kill her by shooting her with my firearm. I planned to shoot her from behind in the head and to burn her personal belongings and clothes afterwards, so as to destroy any trace or evidence of my deeds and actions.

In the execution of this plan I ordered her out of the vehicle, told her to get undressed and place all her things in my vehicle. After I untied her she duly complied. Thereafter I handed her a blanket to cover herself. In the process of covering herself with the blanket she turned her back towards me. It was then that I shot her in the back of her head at point blank range.

5.27 She fell to the ground and appeared to be dead. After a few moments I pulled her body into the bushes or long grass. There I fired the further shots into her body to make sure she was dead.

5.28 I thereafter drove back to the Formula One hotel as mentioned earlier, where I spent the rest of the night.

5.29 The next morning I booked out and went to a secluded area in a bush near my parent's house, where I burnt my clothes, excluding my jacket which I had been wearing during this incident, as well as the deceased's clothing and belongings. This I did as planned to try and destroy all traces and evidence of what I had done.

5.30 A few weeks later, before my arrest, I remembered the deceased telling me, when I asked her to take off her clothes, that her ring and watch were in her pants' pocket.

I then returned to the spot where I burnt the items and retrieved the ring from the ashes. I did this with the intention if returning it to her parents with an anonymous letter addressed to them explaining the circumstances leading up to their daughter's death.

Before I could write the letter, I was arrested.

5.31 I was arrested on October 4 and made a confession and pointed out the scene of the crime and other relevant scenes and exhibits.

5.32 I did not intend to steal anything from the deceased or to rob her of anything.

Signed at Johannesburg on this the 25th day of July 2005.

Signed: Donovan Samuel Moodley

- SAPA