Fingerprint expert links AKA murder accused to taxi boss hit

Share current article via EmailShare current article via FacebookShare current article via TwitterShare current article via LinkedInMlungisi Mhlophe-GumedeEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandLt-Col Nathaniel Zechariah from the KwaZulu-Natal criminal record centre testifying in the Durban high court in the murder trial of Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes on October 20. Picture: Mlungisi Mhlophe-Gumede Story audio is generated using AI

An expert from the KwaZulu-Natal criminal records centre has linked accused No 3 in the murder trial of rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes to a hit on a taxi boss in Mayville in 2022.

Durban taxi boss Gift Khanyile was gunned down at a petrol station in Mayville in his Toyota Hilux. However, others with him managed to fire at their attackers in a Toyota Etios, killing the driver.

The gunmen abandoned the getaway car a few metres from the station and ran away.

Lt-Col Nathaniel Zechariah, testifying in the murder trial of Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, told the Durban high court on Tuesday that accused No 3 Siyanda Eddie Myeza’s fingerprints were found on the rear passenger door of the Toyota Etios.

Myeza, 23 and six other men — Lindokuhle Thabani Mkhwanazi, 30, Lindani Zenzele Ndimande, 35, Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni, 36, Lindokuhle Mhlaliseni Ndimande, 29, Malusi Dave, 30, and Siyabonga Gezani Ndimande, 31 — pleaded not guilty to the charges including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

I have no doubt that the fingerprints found in the Toyota Etios are those of accused number three in the dock

Zechariah said fingerprints lifted from the car matched Myeza’s. He told the court that no one in the world had identical fingerprints.

“I have no doubt that the fingerprints found in the Toyota Etios are those of accused No 3 in the dock,” Zechariah said.

However, defence counsel advocate Simphiwe Mlotshwa said Myeza once worked at a car wash in 2022, which could explain why his fingerprints were found in many cars. He suggested this could be the reason the prints were found on the Etios and asked Zechariah how long fingerprints could remain on a surface.

Zechariah could not say how long fingerprints last.

He also testified about evidence that linked the cartridges found at the AKA murder scene to Myeza.

The state has argued that Myeza supplied one of the two guns used to kill either Forbes or Motsoane, he said.

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