NATIONAL NEWS - Recorded conversations between family and friends of Christopher Panayiotou in the days following his arrest for his wife, Jayde’s, murder, revolved around the reasons he might have killed her. The secret recordings, in which his father, Costa, is heard speculating that the couple might have had a fight, and a family friend discusses the murder accused’s financial situation, were heard in the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday.
In the recordings, reference is also made to a mystery woman named “Jenny”, whom the Panayiotous fought hard to “get rid of”.
But the conversations between April 29 and May 1 last year also tell a sad story of a father’s disapproval and how Christopher was allegedly forced to marry the woman he is now accused of having killed.
A subdued Costa sat in the front row of the gallery yesterday as intimate details of his strained relationship with his son were revealed.
Christopher, 30, sat just metres from him in the dock.
State advocate Marius Stander read extracts of the recordings – used earlier in the week to discredit Warrant Officer Leon Eksteen – as the seasoned policeman and family friend of the Panayiotous testified for the third day.
