A gay escort, who met a man accused of arranging the killing of his wife on their honeymoon, has been allowed to give evidence in her murder trial.
Shrien Dewani denies arranging the murder of wife Anni, 28, a Swedish national, in South Africa in 2010.
Leopold Leisser told Western Cape High Court he contacted police after seeing a news bulletin showing Mr Dewani, from Bristol, being arrested.
His testimony was cut short on Monday when its relevance was questioned.
He was allowed to continue for a short time on Tuesday morning but the judge then ruled all discussions or disclosures or anything of a sexual nature was inadmissible.
The prosecution could only ask when the two men met and had contact.
'Bills to pay'Mr Leisser, also known as the German Master and who offers fetish services, told the court he saw a breaking news bulletin "on either Sky or CNN about Mr Dewani being arrested and accused of being involved in murder".
When asked why he contacted the Metropolitan Police, he said it was because he realised he knew Mr Dewani.
He told the court he also contacted a media outlet for which he was paid £18,000, with a media fee of £7,000.
"I could not work any more because of this and this was the main reason for asking for money, [that I] had bills to pay.
"[It was] initially 15, 16 December [for the] first two stories. I did not go ahead with third story, which would have been big money because it would have been too much detail."
Prison death
Shrien and Anni Dewani were held at gunpoint while being driven in a taxi through Gugulethu township near Cape Town in November 2010.
The prosecution argues Mr Dewani was leading a secret double-life and wanted out of his marriage, so arranged a staged hijacking in which he escaped and his wife was killed.
Xolile Mngeni, who was convicted of killing Mrs Dewani while she was on honeymoon in 2010, had been serving a life sentence for her murder but died in prison.
Mngeni is one of three men to have been jailed in connection with the murder.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo was sentenced to 18 years following a plea bargain.
He told South African authorities he had been approached by Mr Dewani, who offered him about $2,100 (£1,340) to organise the killing and make it look like a carjacking.
Tongo said he then recruited Mngeni and a third man, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, to carry out the killing.
The trial continues.
Gay escort evidence at Dewani trial
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment