Will the questions be answered at last – and can her family and friends finally know what happened on the day Leigh Matthews died?
|||This winter will mark the eighth anniversary of the murder of Bond University student Leigh Matthews, a crime that has not been fully solved.
For most of this time the family of the young woman who disappeared on July 9, 2004 – the day after she turned 21 – have been desperate for the truth. They have heard scores of lies and numerous versions of what happened put forward by convicted killer Donovan Moodley, and still their questions go unanswered.
And now there is this week’s breakthrough – the revelation that a man identified only as Silvanus may have information that will finally shed light on the dark mystery of what happened to Leigh’s body in the 11 days between the time she disappeared and the day it was discovered laid out in the veld in Walkerville Manor.
Moodley was convicted of the killing by Judge Joop Labuschagne who found that, although Moodley had pulled the trigger, he had acted with the aid of accomplices who were still walking free.
He also ruled that the State had successfully proved that Leigh was not shot dead where she was found, as Moodley had claimed, but that her body had been hidden somewhere in a cold storage facility before being carefully placed where she was found a few hours later by a grass cutter.
Moodley, who initially pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life behind bars, has made several desperate but unsuccessful bids for freedom, petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
Earlier this year he returned to the Johannesburg High Court with a new story, pleading for a retrial. This time he claimed he had been forced to participate in the kidnapping and murder by a group of drug dealers he could identify only as Frank, Jemba and Allie.
His story was rejected by Judge Labuschagne, who sent him back to prison to continue serving out his sentence.
This week the name “Silvanus” was brought to eblockwatch – a crime awareness and community crime network – by an anonymous source who appeared to have information on the Matthews murder and wanted to clear his conscience.
“We don’t know who he is, but we are convinced he is genuine and he has promised to give us more,” said eblockwatch creator and owner Andre Snyman. His online group of 80 000 members has been actively involved with the Matthews case since her disappearance first made headlines.
This new information they have has excited Rob and Sharon Matthews, Leigh’s parents, who have continued to hold out hope that they would eventually know the truth.
The breakthrough was publicised on the eblockwatch website, prompting several more people to come forward with new information that was being investigated.
Rob Matthews has been touched by the responses, saying they showed how people still remembered and that people still cared. And the fact that people were still coming forward was proof that society was ultimately good and wanted to see justice served.
These are among the questions that have yet to be answered:
* Why did Donovan Moodley’s girlfriend, Yeshika Singh, leave work suddenly on the day of the murder?
* Why did she go to Lenasia South, not far from where Matthews was being held?
* Why does Moodley continue to lie about Matthews having been shot dead on the spot where her body was found? What does he have to lose by coming out with the truth?
* Who were the accomplices who helped hide Leigh’s body in cold storage for 11 days? It was not possible for Moodley to have done this on his own, nor could he have transported the body and put it in the veld without assistance.
* What was Moodley’s close friend Koogan Reddy doing on the highway flyover bridge near the drop-off point at the very time Matthews’s father, Rob, paid over the ransom?
Eblockwatch was continuing to assist with the investigation, carrying all the latest reports of it online. Snyman said his team was working out a network of people with links to Moodley and invited people to come forward with any names they had.
“Eblockwatch has mobilised its national network of 80 000 members to help create a family tree on the website of those closest to the killer at the time of the murder.
“Eblockwatch believes it is just a matter of time before all the data received will paint a clear picture of who done it,” Snyman said.
Go to www.eblockwatch .co.za for the latest on the case or to help complete Donovan Moodley’s “family tree”.
Saturday Star