The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has dismissed an application by Christopher Panayiotou, convicted of murdering his wife, Jayde, for leave to appeal against his life sentence.
Panayiotou lodged the application three months ago against the sentence imposed in November in the Port Elizabeth High Court by judge Dayalin Chetty.
The SCA said last week: “The application for leave to appeal is dismissed [as] there are no reasonable prospects of success and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard.”
Panayiotou was convicted of murder after orchestrating the death of his wife, 29.
Jayde was kidnapped and shot dead in April 2015.
His co-accused, Sinethemba Nenembe, also received a life sentence for the murder, plus an additional 15 years for robbery, while Zolani Sibeko was handed 15 years for conspiracy to commit murder.
In a marathon trial, it emerged that Panayiotou had paid R80,000 to alleged middleman Luthando Siyoni – who also worked as a bouncer at his nightclub – to hire a hitman.
Siyoni absconded and was rearrested months later. He will stand trial separately.