Alleged hitman in Jade Panayiotou murder case dies in hospital
In a major development in the Jayde Panayiotou murder case, the man who allegedly pulled the trigger has died in hospital.
NPA spokesperson Tsepo Ndwalaza says Sizwezakhe Vumazonke died this morning.
The cause of 31-year-old's death is not yet known, but he had been in a coma in the Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth, where he had been receiving medical treatement since AUgust - after falling ill in prison.
Due to his being in hospital, a pre-trial conference on Monday in the Port Elizabeth High Court lasted only a few minutes and had to be postponed.
The nature of Vumazonke's illness was not revealed but authorities are awaiting a toxicology report, amidst suspicions he had been poisoned.
Ndwalaza says Vumazonke's passing will not impact on the the Panayiotou trial which is set to start early next month.
Jayde's husband - Christopher Panayiotou - stands accused of masterminding the abduction and murder of his schoolteacher wife in April last year.
The State alleges he paid a bouncer from a local nightclub, Luthando Siyoni, to hire hitman Vumazonke to kidnap and kill Jayde.
Siyoni has since turned State witness.
Jayde was allegedly forced into the boot of a hired vehicle, taken to a remote area in Kwanobhule in PE, and subsequently murdered.
The trial is scheduled to being on the 3rd of October, 2016.