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Zane Kilian linked to attempted hit on William Booth, says lawyer

More trouble for Lt-Col Charl Kinnear murder accused

Zane Kilian's bail application on Monday was postponed to November 27.
Zane Kilian's bail application on Monday was postponed to November 27.
Image: Philani Nombembe

The bail hearing for the man charged with Lt-Col Charl Kinnear’s killing was off to a false start on Monday.

Former rugby player and debt collector Zane Kilian’s bail application was set to be heard in the Bellville regional court.

But Kilian, from Springs, on Gauteng’s East Rand, was slapped with more charges instead.

Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the prosecution in the Western Cape, said one of the charges related to a certificate Kilian submitted to the Bishop Lavis magistrate's court.

“It [the bail hearing] was supposed to start today but an arrangement has been made with the magistrate of [the] regional court. He will only be available on November 27 when the bail application will take place,” said Ntabazalila.

“The media application [to take pictures inside court and film the proceedings] will also be done on that day.

“There is a fourth charge against the accused - a charge of fraud relating to that certificate which he submitted of him being a private investigator.”

But Kilian’s lawyer Eric Bryer said his client faced two more charges – a fraud charge and another of conspiracy to commit murder.

The conspiracy to commit murder charge related to an attack on prominent Cape Town criminal lawyer William Booth, said Bryer. Booth was a target of a shooting in Higgovale, Cape Town, on April 9.

Kilian initially faced murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful interception of communication charges.

“The bail application was set down for today, tomorrow and Friday but the state added two additional charges last night,” said Bryer.

“So it wouldn’t be prudent to go ahead today, get a bail application and the accused get out on bail and be arrested immediately on other charges. So from a legal point of view, it is advisable to get all the charges done in one go and when the state is ready, then we will proceed with the bail application, because we don’t want to go backwards and forwards. It’s just not worthwhile.”

Bryer said Kilian’s defence team hope that the state will have finalised the additional charges when his bail application is heard on November 27.

“But you cannot put anything past them and one has to concede that it’s a monumental task,” said Bryer.

“They promised to do as much as they can so that we can proceed on that date. So we will keep our fingers crossed because he already been in custody for 36 days. And if we went to the high court, the same would be achieved; he would hopefully get bail, but then he would be rearrested as he walked out. So I would rather do it in one go when we are ready or when the state is ready, then we can take it from there.”

Kilian will be brought before the Cape Town magistrate's court on Tuesday in connection with the charge related to Booth.  

“Those were the two [charges - fraud and conspiracy to commit murder] put forward to him yesterday, but they have been submitted today. He is appearing in the Cape Town [magistrate's] court tomorrow on one or two charges. We will find out when we get there. We hope to consolidate so we can do the bail application in one go.”

TimesLIVE


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