Marriage was the beginning of the end! The Case of Jayde Panayiotou. True Crime Documentary.

[Music] hi everybody it's Jack here today I'd like you to take a look at another horrible case at the Western end of Algoa Bay stretching along the Southeastern coast of South Africa 400 miles from Cape Town is the city of Port Elizabeth in addition to being a major Seaport it is also the sixth most populous city in South Africa it is in this city in November 2004 18 year old Chris panayotu graduated from high school and joined the trading Corporation of his father who owned a fairly large network of stores and eateries in the city

and its surroundings Chris had a desire to be involved in his father's business from a young age and developed an interest in the specifics of managing retail chains and how to develop the retail services industry he possessed amazing energy and determination his dreams extended far beyond being an executive and skillful employee under his father's supervision he dreamed of owning his own fish restaurant somewhere near a five-star hotel along Marina Drive and a large Supermarket right by downtown King's Beach that afternoon he was helping his father at a small Diner on Market Street the establishment's one-story

old building lacked square footage and glamor but it was nonetheless popular with the neighborhood's youth here Chris panayo too met his high school friend who invited him to a Friday night party organized by mutual friends at Barney's Tavern located on the beach and a constant success among young people on Friday sitting in a wicker bamboo chair and sipping beer from The Establishment specialty mug Chris noticed a pretty young girl sitting alone at the bar drinking lemonade from a tall glass the young man left his seat and walked over to meet her her name was JD

dinks and she had just turned 18 years old as well a spark immediately ran between them the young people found many common interests very quickly after that party Chris and JD began dating not even realizing that their Friday night meeting at Barney's Tavern would be the Prelude to a horrible love triangle story that would lead to a tragic death JD was a girl with a cheerful and sweet personality her endless thirst for giving joy and warmth to others inspired her to devote herself to teaching in 2005 she enrolled in University while JD focused on her

studies Chris started his own business with tenacity and entrepreneurial Spirit the first business was a local grocery store then a neighborhood restaurant and cocktail bar which Chris named infinite despite the young people's busyness the feelings that bonded JD and Chris grew stronger it was a period when their relationship was growing stronger like the roots of a young tree penetrating deeper into the soil both JD and Chris created their own little corner of happiness a kindness and love seemed Eternal and days were filled with smiles and hope for an endlessly joyful future however over time the

lovers began to have problems in their relationship or rather one female problem at first Chanel Kutis was an employee of the store she maintained with her employer Chris panayotu only business relations but everything changed after a year among the office corridors and long store Windows secret love between Chris and his employee Chanel cooties blossomed imperceptibly and this woman became not just an employee of the store but also Chris's lover all of course carefully concealed but employees working next to this couple could not help but notice the delicate hints of their affection for each other glances

enigmatic smiles and gentle gestures left behind an aura of mystery and some hint the lovers met secretly at night in local cozy hotels and when JD was away Chris even brought Chanel to his home by this time in the eyes of family and friends JD and Chris looked like an established young couple they were very well suited for each other and seemed successful and promising JD had graduated from University and got a job at an elementary school on Nelson Mandela Bay and Chris's business was doing well finally they were officially engaged and began living together

nevertheless Chris's connection with Chanel continued Chris's father Costa panayotu was terribly upset on the one hand and Furious on the other with the unexpected news of his son's secret affair with a sales clerk he could not understand how Chris dating the intelligent kind and decent JD for eight years on the eve of the wedding could behave so immorally Costa found his son at infinite celebrating his engagement with friends that's where the heated conversation took place Costa promised to disinherit Chris if he continued to date Chanel Chris vowed to his father that he would leave Chanel

but in fact continued his affair with cooties all this time JD had no idea about her fiance's Affairs on the side therefore Chris and JD were safely married in 2012. soon JD received an invitation to work at Rebecca College Chris spending serious money to support two women gave his business its first blow his finances dropped significantly expensive gifts to his mistress spending on fancy hotel rooms and treats all did not add to the profitability of the business over the next three years Chris became increasingly estranged from his wife continuing his affair on the side thus

destroying his business and family JD felt that there was loneliness in her life and that Chris had her on the back burner with no time to pay attention to her the young woman shared with her friends a heavy sense of disappointment in her relationship with her husband all her efforts to restore the former Harmony did not lead to anything realizing the futility of her actions by September 2014 JD realized that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown on September 21st she decided to address herself by writing a letter in which she shared her

deep feelings in the letter JD clearly expresses her desire to be loved and have a normal marriage she emotionally expressed her feelings and experiences of wanting to be loved by her husband and her desire for close warm relationships and support she longed for a normal man who would take care of her and with whom she could build a healthy relationship JD expressed in her Frank letter her frustration and dissatisfaction with her husband's behavior of hiding things from her this caused her to feel a sense of distrust and uncertainty she described her State as if her

heart had been taken from her and it had been torn and trampled JD also expressed a desire to spend more time around her husband in the early spring morning of April 20th 2015 a Monday a rented car with three Stout guys inside stopped near the Gate of staring glad village where the Young panayo II couple lived their attention was drawn to a fashionably dressed young woman who was impatiently waiting for someone standing by the roadside two of the trio had already started to open the car doors to get out of the car when the driver

who was left behind the wheel gave them a command to stay in their seats they watched through the tinted glass of their car as a black BMW parked beside her she settled into the back seat and the car sped past them picking up speed the driver annoyingly slapped his hands on the steering wheel the next morning Tuesday at 6 15 JD panayotu left the house as usual to go to work at the college it was no more than a 40-minute drive to her place of work and she was waiting for her friend and co-worker Cheryl

in her BMW to go there she glanced absent-mindedly at the curb where she spotted yesterday's car with tinted windows Cheryl was running late JD pulled her cell phone out of her purse with the intention of calling her friend in her sideways Vision she saw two figures coming toward her from the roadside bushes Cheryl was only 10 minutes late but JD wasn't at her usual spot Cheryl had called her phone in vain and calls to the door of the house were also fruitless the college also confirmed JD's absence from work anxiety Rose in Cheryl's heart and

she called the police by 10 o'clock in the morning JD panayotu was announced missing to the media and social media on the same day the search for the missing young woman began in addition to the police and a special K-9 unit volunteers and volunteers from the local community took part in the search Knight fell but unfortunately there were still no results in the morning the search resumed a reward was announced for any information about JD then the amount increased at 10 o'clock in the morning a canine Officer with his dog named Angel discovered the body

of JD panayotu in a bushy Ravine near quano bushley she was fully clothed the medical examiner found two gunshot wounds in her back and one shot to the Head her bank cards and jewelry were gone as if someone had tried to obfuscate the motives for the murder it wasn't just an act of violence it was a low inhumane act who would take the life of such a kind and harmless person JD's family was in shock family and friends couldn't believe this could have happened JD's students and co-workers were also grieving the heartache of the terrible

tragedy spread like waves in the ocean far and wide across the country social media buzzed with grief and bewilderment who could have committed such a Despicable and senseless murder on October 22nd JD's family held a memorial service at the Catholic church and a funeral was held attended by an unimaginable number of Port Elizabeth residents so tragic and ridiculous was the young woman's death that it struck the citizens of the city and echoed with pain and compassion in their hearts among the family and friends of the deceased were also JD's students and colleagues who came to

pay their respects and mourn the young teacher but apart from people who knew JD panayota closely the city cemetery was attended by operatives of the South African Police Service whose attention was drawn to the strange behavior of the deceased's husband Chris the young businessman's grief looked rather fake but most of all the investigative team was surprised by the obviously staged farewell speech of the widower having checked its text through search engines on the internet the police found an incredible similarity of Chris's Epitaph with the dedication of Charles Atkins to his late wife of course it

was not a direct evidence but the police officers had a suspicion about Chris panayotu's involvement in the tragic death of his wife they decided to keep a close eye on him in addition several other suspicious facts pointed to Chris's participation in the murder of his wife on the eve of the funeral on the tip-off of special agents the police arrested on suspicion of possible participation in this atrocious crime one Laton de seon who turned out to be a security guard at Chris panayotu's nightclub the man gave statements indicating that Chris had approached him to hire

Killers for his wife and that he Laton de seon had found him three of his friends police also learned that on the day of JD's murder someone tried to use her bank cards twice after examining Bank surveillance tapes detectives found images of two men who Laton de seon identified as his hired Killers latonda actively cooperated with law enforcement and they decided to release him from custody on the condition that he complete the task of gathering evidence and Chris's confession to his wife's murder for this the authorities promised to commute Le Tonda chione's sentence following instructions

from the police latonda called Chris and summoned him for a confidential conversation which was recorded with special equipment in it panayotu revealed himself fully which allowed the investigation to arrest Chris at night two hours after the telephone conversation with latonda soon based on the detailed testimony of the detainee three more suspects were arrested after that the picture of the crime was completely reconstructed by days hours and minutes Chris ordered the Hitmen to kill his wife JD panayotu on the morning of April 20th 2015 when she would be waiting at 6 30 a.m for her co-worker

Cheryl in a car that would take her to work however on this day the perpetrators had a setback Cheryl arrived to pick up JD in her car a little early to save her friend's life on that spring April morning the killers were forced to reschedule the execution of the order for the next day which proved more fortunate for them on April 21st JD appeared outside the gates of her community at 6 15 a.m and the three criminals were already there two of them in an ambush not far from where jady usually waited for her colleague

Now The Killers change their plan they did not kill JD near the housing estate but decided to kidnap her take her to another place and execute their vile plans there JD had no time to actively resist so Swift and unexpected was the attack the two men grabbed JD firmly from both sides under her arms depriving her of maneuverability and threw her roughly into the back seat of a speeding car the young woman was so shocked that she didn't even scream or resist the two kidnappers were sitting on either side of her and there was no

way to get out of the speeding car JD tried to offer the criminals money but they had other things on their minds after 30 minutes of fast driving the car pulled off the dirt road into the woods Northwest of the village they led the young woman to a small Ravine and each fired a revolver once the men then took the valuables and jewelry in Cold Blood and threw the body into a small Ravine hastily covering it with Brushwood the criminals then drove to a nearby ATM and withdrew one hundred dollars using the murdered woman's bank

card on the same day they tried to withdraw cash again but due to an incorrectly entered pin code the payment was not executed both withdrawal attempts were recorded by surveillance cameras on October 11 2015 the trial against Chris and the two mercenaries began and generated unprecedented interest throughout the country the case was covered in all media with detailed details the prosecution argued that the motive for the murder was financial debt and difficulties in supporting two women Chris's wife and mistress the trial revealed the key points of the case Chanel koutis Chris's mistress took the witness

stand to testify about the lavish gifts Chris gave her her testimony also confirmed that she slept over with Chris when his wife JD was away and described their passionate nights at various hotels in the city various pieces of evidence were presented in court such as records of calls between the hired killers and the bouncer of the litanda Sion nightclub ATM videos and pictures confirming withdrawals GPS coordinates of the location of the hidden car and other evidence that pointed to the defendant's involvement in the murder the court discussed the financial situation of Chris who appeared to

be having difficulty supporting both women this created a motive to get rid of one of them the mysterious death of the third defendant just before the trial began added to the mystery of the case he may have been an important witness for the prosecution or may have had information that could have been even more damaging to Chris and his co-defendants the court concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support the involvement of Chris and the mercenaries in the murder their motivation was related to the financial problems and life difficulties of Chris who decided that getting

rid of one of the women would be the solution to his problems JD's story is a true tragedy her life was too short and full of Injustice all the witnesses called by the court described JD as a kind and devoted woman her death was a loss to all who knew and loved her the court clearly concluded that Chris killed his wife out of greed to avoid financial problems this motive makes his act even more inhumane and cruel Chris's actions show how some people can go to extreme lengths for their own gain Chris as well as

the two hired Killers received a life sentence this is a just punishment for such a horrible crime lytancioni had yet to be fully sentenced because he went to cooperate with law enforcement however there are still some mysterious and unexpected six moments in this tragic story the tragic death of Chris's father Costa panayotu on December 9 2019 added more mystery and grief to the already existing tragedy Chris's affair with a store worker in Costa panayoto's unwillingness to accept this choice of his son could have been a source of family conflict and tension it is not yet

clear who killed Costa panayotu and why this horrific crime leaves many unanswered questions and adds an element of mystery to an already complicated situation the situation of Chris panayotu who put his own interests and desires above the life and well-being of his wife and family is one of intense outrage and condemnation if his actions were related to the death of his father it would add even more complexity to an already horrible situation if Chris panayotu had anything to do with his father's death he should be punished for yet another crime either way this horrible man

now will never go free thanks for watching friends Jack was with you subscribe to the channel there are many shocking stories ahead [Music] foreign