Donovan Moodley
Leigh's killer, 24-year-old Donovan Moodley, was arrested nearly three months after the body was discovered. He was also a student at Bond University, but was not socially acquainted with Leigh. Police caught up to and arrested Moodley in Alberton. He appeared on charges of murder, kidnapping and extortion in the Randburg Magistrates Court in October 2004.
In his initial version of events, Moodley claimed to be driven by a need for money. He apparently approached Leigh in the campus parking lot, purportedly to ask for a lift. They both rode in her car together, where Moodley then kidnapped her. Shortly after he extorted the R50,000 from Leigh's parents, Moodley claimed that he was unsure what to do with Leigh herself, and then took her to a deserted field in Walkerville, and shot her once in the back of the head. He then burned his clothes to hide evidence.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment whilst many South Africans called for the death penalty to be reinstated. Many South Africans took to wearing white ribbons in support for Leigh's family during the highly-publicised trial.
Read more about this topic: Leigh Matthews (South Africa)
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“The magic of photography is metaphysical. What you see in the photograph isn’t what you saw at the time. The real skill of photography is organised visual lying.”
—Terence Donovan (b. 1936)