WHEN news broke last week Friday that Philani Ntuli, the man who was charged with the murder and kidnapping of Siam Lee, had died, the community refused to believe it.
Many claimed the Assagay businessman, who was purported to be a prolific conman, had faked his own death.
However, on Thursday, Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane confirmed that Ntuli had died, saying police were “investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.”
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Zwane did not comment on allegations that the 30-year-old had died of skin cancer.
Lee’s mother, Carmen Nan Lee, who is understandably distraught and emotionally drained, has declined to comment.
The Highway Mail has made several attempts to contact Ntuli’s lawyer, Reial Mahabeer, for comment.
During court proceedings last year the state alleged that Ntuli had kidnapped Lee from her place of employment on Margaret Maytom Avenue in Durban North on 4 January 2018, and kept her captive for two days before he killed her.
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It is alleged he then dumped and burned her body in a sugarcane field in New Handover. Lee would have celebrated her 22nd birthday on 15 April.
Before his death, Ntuli’s pre-trial hearing was set to start on 29 July.
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