Zane Kilian did not kill top cop Charl Kinnear, lawyer tells court

A heavy police contingent monitored pedestrians and traffic outside the Bishop Lavis magistrate's court during Zane Kilian's appearance there on Friday.
A heavy police contingent monitored pedestrians and traffic outside the Bishop Lavis magistrate's court during Zane Kilian's appearance there on Friday.
Image: Philani Nombembe

Former rugby player Zane Kilian’s lawyers have denied that he was involved in the assassination-style murder of top police detective Charl Kinnear.

Kilian, 39, appeared in the Bishop Lavis magistrate's court in Cape Town on Friday.

Zane Kilian faces murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful interception of communication charges.
Zane Kilian faces murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful interception of communication charges.
Image: Facebook

The court was set to hear if the prosecution had secured a venue at the regional court to hear Kilian's bail application.

The prosecution raised security concerns during his appearance on Monday, adding that it was “undesirable” for the application to be heard in the magistrate's court.

Kilian’s counsel Eckhard Röseman handed two documents to the court on Friday. One was a certificate proving that he was registered as a private investigator and the other a Private Security Industry Regulator document “for his business”. 

Kilian is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and unlawful interception of communication. The state alleges that he intercepted Lt-Col Kinnear’s cellphones between March and September 18 — the day he was shot dead in his car outside his Bishop Lavis home.

“Being a private investigator, he also falls under the Private Security Act which allows him to do surveillance,” said Röseman. “What he did, he did legally. He did not commit murder. He did not conspire to commit murder. He did not [contravene] the Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.”

Prosecutor Gregory Wolmarans did not object to the documents being handed in.

Wolmarans said the state was yet to secure a place in the regional court, saying  there was no allocated court to hear the bail application.

“Bail applications are inherently urgent,” he said.

He asked the court to postpone the matter to October 14. After the hearing, Kilian’s attorney Eric Bryer said they were disappointed that a court to hear the bail application had not been secured.

“On the first appearance, which was 17 days ago, the state undertook to find an alternate court ... and hear the bail application as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

PODCAST | The killing of Charl Kinnear: a community demands justice

Subscribe for free episodes: iono.fm | Spotify | Player.fm | Pocket Casts

“At our last appearance on Monday ... Mr Wolmarans undertook to find a regional court ... I am not saying it is his fault but the state has had plenty of time.”

He said the documents handed to court were crucial to demonstrate the nature of Kilian's work.

“They prove that he is entitled to earn a living in terms of the constitution and that is the job that he does, and as far as we are concerned he is acting within the ambit of the law. But that is for the prosecution to decide and we will face the consequences in time to come.”

Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson of the prosecution in the Western Cape, said the state hoped to secure a regional court by Wednesday.

TimesLIVE