Charl Kinnear murder accused’s dad fights for his release

Everyone’s equal under the law, but murder accused Zane Killian’s dad, Hein, believes that some people may be more equal than others.

Killian is implicated in the killing of Cape Town Anti-Gang Unit’s Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear in 2020. He has since been in detention, awaiting a trial date, for more than 666 days.

The former Valke rugby club player turned debt collector and vehicle repo-man is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and contravening the Electronic Communication and Transactions Act.

The latter charge relates to a widely used practice called ‘pinging’ where approximate locations of persons could be established my tracking cell numbers to the nearest tower. Killian used this in his car repossession and debt collection practice.

‘We need Zane to come home’

Zane’s dad Hein Killian is a broken man. The strain of almost two years of what he calls blatant injustice weighs heavily on his shoulders and sunk his wallet.

The seventy-one-year-old retired police officer and has spent every cent of his retirement nest egg just to get his son out on bail. He doesn’t know how the family will eventually afford defense in a trial yet.

Killian senior said: “I have sold my classic car collection, our retirement nest egg, at rock bottom prices to raise extra cash. I have exhausted my other savings and am now solely reliant on my pension. I don’t know what to do anymore. Our family just needs Zane to come home, for the court to show a measure of mercy and fairness, and to allow us to contest his case in the courtroom.”

He is so convinced of his son’s innocence that he launched his own, independent investigation into Kinnear’s murder and has amassed volumes of intelligence refuting State evidence on the charges laid.

Killian said: “I even hold security camera footage of Zane, queuing in a Benoni pharmacy, at the time that Kinnear’s murder was said to take place. It is date and time stamped. Zane has a watertight alibi.”

Killian senior said he has gathered reams of evidence to ultimately acquit his son, that is, when he finally gets the opportunity to defend the charges in court.

He also described his son as a kind, caring and gentle soul who would go out of his way for friends, family and even strangers.

He was appalled at the way his son was described by the magistrate and the prosecution.

Bail refusal baffling to dad

After Killian’s arrest Magistrate Nonkosi Saba refused him bail. In her ruling she said that Killian was a dishonest person, would interfere with witnesses and that he had failed to provide the court any evidence of exceptional circumstances to justify bail.

Last month, the Randburg Magistrates’ Court released seven men implicated in the murder of Zimbabwean Elvis Nyathi on R3 000 bail each. Killian senior questioned the equal application of the law, suggesting that selective application of bail conditions is clear, and his son has been treated unfairly.

Killian senior doesn’t understand the magistrate’s denial of special circumstances, either. Killian has custody of his nine-year-old special needs son who suffers from cerebral palsy. He’s living with Oupa Hein right now, but is said to sit streetside, next to a fence, crying for his dad every day.

Said Killian senior: “His mom cannot take care of him due to wellness reasons of her own, and while I am caretaking now, the boy needs his dad.

“They are incredibly close, and I can see the psychological and concomitant physical deterioration in him as he longs for his father.”

In addition, Killian senior said that the court considered his son a flight risk. He said: “Yet I handed in his passport showing that he had never left the country before, despite the prosecution saying otherwise. Right now, the court still holds his passport, so tell me, how will he skip the country, and why would he ever leave his son behind?”

The Killian family is no stranger to tragedy. Two years ago, Killian’s mother was murdered in a robbery during a braai at a friend’s house in the Western Cape.

Killian is due to reappear before the magistrate on 21 July to reapply for bail.