Shrien Dewani could be cleared of South Africa honeymoon murder
Published: 2013 September 14 11:07:25 (4964 Views)
Honeymoon murder accused Shrien Dewani could be cleared after experts claimed his wife Anni was shot by accident according to the UK Mirror.
Dewani has always maintained he was forced from a taxi with the driver by carjackers who drove off with his wife.
Swedish Anni's body was found in the abandoned car in Cape Town the next day.
South African police claim millionaire Dewani hired hitmen to murder his new wife in 2010.
But the bullet that killed the 28-year-old hit her left hand, went into her chest and through her body causing fatal neck injuries.
Ballistics experts at the Forensic Firearms Consultancy in London have now reviewed case documents and a source said: "The evidence would appear to support the theory that Mrs Dewani was shot during a struggle."
The Mirror also revealed that recordings of initial police interviews and CCTV images raise further concerns about the case.
Dewani's alleged accomplices, taxi driver Zola Tongo and gunmen Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, fail to mention the Brit in recordings of their initial interviews, a BBC TV investigation will show.
It is claimed the businessman was eventually accused by a desperate Tongo in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Paul Hoffman, a former acting High Court judge in South Africa, said yesterday: "The prosecution case relies on Tongo, who had every reason to put the majority of the blame on Dewani.
"The pressure at the time was that this sort of incident needed to be explained rapidly due to the economy of the Western Cape which relies on UK tourism. Britons being killed by taxi drivers doesn't look good."
New CCTV footage from the night of the murder and the days leading up to it shows the newlyweds tenderly kissing and cuddling.
Police claim the couple had argued on their honeymoon.
It has also emerged that text messages Dewani supposedly sent Tongo on the night of the murder – a crucial part of the prosecution case – do not exist.
Dewani, 33, from Bristol, is in a psychiatric hospital while his lawyers fight his extradition at the Supreme Court.
Anni's uncle Ashok Hindocha yesterday slammed the BBC probe, saying: "The trial should not be conducted in a TV studio it should be in the courts."
Tongo, Mngeni and Qwabe have all been jailed for their roles in Anni's murder.
- Mirror
Dewani has always maintained he was forced from a taxi with the driver by carjackers who drove off with his wife.
Swedish Anni's body was found in the abandoned car in Cape Town the next day.
South African police claim millionaire Dewani hired hitmen to murder his new wife in 2010.
But the bullet that killed the 28-year-old hit her left hand, went into her chest and through her body causing fatal neck injuries.
Ballistics experts at the Forensic Firearms Consultancy in London have now reviewed case documents and a source said: "The evidence would appear to support the theory that Mrs Dewani was shot during a struggle."
The Mirror also revealed that recordings of initial police interviews and CCTV images raise further concerns about the case.
Dewani's alleged accomplices, taxi driver Zola Tongo and gunmen Xolile Mngeni and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, fail to mention the Brit in recordings of their initial interviews, a BBC TV investigation will show.
It is claimed the businessman was eventually accused by a desperate Tongo in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Paul Hoffman, a former acting High Court judge in South Africa, said yesterday: "The prosecution case relies on Tongo, who had every reason to put the majority of the blame on Dewani.
"The pressure at the time was that this sort of incident needed to be explained rapidly due to the economy of the Western Cape which relies on UK tourism. Britons being killed by taxi drivers doesn't look good."
New CCTV footage from the night of the murder and the days leading up to it shows the newlyweds tenderly kissing and cuddling.
Police claim the couple had argued on their honeymoon.
It has also emerged that text messages Dewani supposedly sent Tongo on the night of the murder – a crucial part of the prosecution case – do not exist.
Dewani, 33, from Bristol, is in a psychiatric hospital while his lawyers fight his extradition at the Supreme Court.
Anni's uncle Ashok Hindocha yesterday slammed the BBC probe, saying: "The trial should not be conducted in a TV studio it should be in the courts."
Tongo, Mngeni and Qwabe have all been jailed for their roles in Anni's murder.
- Mirror
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