Ex-Valke rugby player charged with top cop Charl Kinnear’s murder

Former professional rugby player Zane Killian has been charged with the murder of well-known top cop Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear, 52.

Killian appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on Friday following his arrest in Gauteng on Wednesday.

He will remain in custody until his next court appearance on 5 October.

The spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape Eric Ntabazalila said Killian was also facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful interception of communication.

“The accused has not applied for bail yet but if he does, the state will oppose the bail application,” said Ntabazalila.

The 39-year-old Killian is a former professional rugby player, who turned out for the Valke on Gauteng’s East Rand as well as Griquas.

He played Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup rugby between 2005 and 2013, and was a front-row prop.

According to the South African Institute for Drug-free Sport, Killian served a three-month doping ban in 2013 for using Sibutramine, an anti-obesity drug, used to control body weight.

Kinnear was shot dead in front of his house in Bishop Lavis in Cape Town last Friday.

His killing is suspected to have been an assassination, although this has not been confirmed by police. They would also not speculate about the possible motive for the murder.

Kinnear was attached to the Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit as a section commander and was involved in investigations in several high-profile cases, which resulted in multiple arrests.

The killing sparked national outrage, with Police Minister Bheki Cele promising swift action.

Kinnear, the minister said last week, had been “the top of the crop” – and had been ranked the top police investigator in the Western Cape, and number three in South Africa.

Kinnear had been “not just an ordinary human being, but an extraordinary human being”.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu. Additional reporting by Jacques Rudolph and News24 Wire)

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