- Former rugby player Zane Kilian is no longer formally charged with the attempted murder of lawyer William Booth.
- This emerged during his application to appeal the refusal of bail.
- His lawyer believes there is only circumstantial evidence against him.
Former rugby player Zane Kilian is no longer formally charged with the attempted murder of lawyer William Booth. This emerged during his bail appeal application in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
This cleared up why the attempted murder charge was not included in the consolidated indictment released after his appearance in Blue Downs Regional Court last Friday.
"That has been put on hold," said prosecutor Greg Wolmarans.
He explained that there was "no disputing" that Kilian was involved with the activities, but there was no corroboration. He said there was still work being done on this aspect and it was being dealt with separately.
According to the 63 racketeering charges listed, alleged underworld figures Nafiz Modack and Jacques Cronje now faced the charge of the attempted murder of Booth.
Wolmarans told Judge Ashley Binns-Ward that Kilian's pinging of cellphone numbers could not possibly be related to the debt collection that Kilian claimed he was doing.
Kilian is a co-accused in the investigation into the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
Kilian's lawyer Marius Botha said the magistrate in the Bellville Regional Court made 15 errors when deciding not to grant bail to Kilian.
He said the magistrate concluded that admitting to running a pinging service was prima facie evidence that he has a case to answer to. Kilian insisted that he traced vehicle owners for clients and the clients, in turn, handed the details to a sheriff of the court for repossession.
Botha said Kilian's family needed him and it would not be fair to keep him in custody for the estimated two years that it would take to finish the case.
Kilian was not present for the application. The judge repeatedly questioned why he was hearing the application only on the papers submitted, without witnesses being called.
The matter continues.
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