Historical records matching Leigh Matthews
About Leigh Matthews
Leigh Matthews (1983 - 2004)
Brief overview:
Leigh, who had just turned 21, was abducted from Bond University in Morningside, on 9th July 2004 by another student, Donovan Moodley (24). He demanded a R50,000 ransom from the family for the safe return of Leigh.
Leigh's body was discovered by a municipal worker in a field on the R82 highway in Walkerville on 21st July 2004. Moodley had covered her with a blanket.
Once Leigh's body had been found, the case was handed over to renowned specialist detective, Piet Byleveld (Brigadier Petrus Erasmus Johannes van Staden Byleveld - 1950-2017). Link below.
Leigh had been shot four times. Behind her left ear, another to her head, and two further gunshot wounds, after she was dead, into her chest. It was uncovered that Leigh had been murdered on the same day as her abduction at another location, kept in a freezer for 12 days, and dumped in the field. Moodley deliberately left the shell casings next to her body to stage the murder, and then burnt her clothing.
Piet Byleveld, detectives and the judge, all believe that more people were involved, at least between 2 and 5.
When Byleveld arrested Moodley, he said to him, "What took you so long, I've been expecting you." Moodley confessed immediately, and handed over the murder weapon.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, only to be released at 65 years of age.
During 2010 Moodley appealed his sentence, which was denied.
It was also proved that Moodley knew Leigh. Cellphone records show that he was in contact with her.
To date, Moodley has never given up any accomplices names.
In 2011 Piet Bylevelds book was released, it was uncovered that Leigh was not the only person who he had kidnapped. Money moving through Moodley's account indicated as such.
An extract from the book:
"In Byleveld’s book, the detective said he believed Moodley had five accomplices, and suggested Moodley and his friends had made a living out of kidnapping people for ransom. Byleveld said an amount of R92 000 had been deposited into Moodley’s account six months before he and his accomplices kidnapped and killed Matthews.
The R92 000 was deposited in January 2004, six months before he murdered Matthews and shortly after Moodley enrolled as a student at Bond University, where he was one of Matthews’s classmates.
“It’s a hell of a lot of money for a jobless student,” Byleveld wrote.
“I’m 100 percent convinced it wasn’t the first time Moodley kidnapped someone for ransom.”
Byleveld suggested that Moodley’s other targets had survived the kidnappings and never reported the cases to the police because of their families’ status in society.
“The money was handed over and the children were safely returned. End of the story,” he wrote.
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- The Street/Suburb
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
- John Thomas Patrick Lynch (65) was shot seven times in his home in Bryanston on 24th March 2004. John's daughter, Vanessa, was a commercial lawyer at the time, but a few years later she teamed up with Rob Matthews (father of Leigh Matthews), and geneticist, Dr Carolyn Hancock, and they founded The DNA Project. "Apart from teaching crime scene preservation to police officers, they pushed hard for the new DNA legislation."
Attack Details:
- Date and time of attack
- Weapons
- Items Stolen
- Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
- Torture, Gratuitous violence
- Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.
Perpetrator details:
- Number and Descriptions
- Arrests
- Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
- Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
- Trial/Conviction
- 13/12/2023: The South Gauteng High Court has directed the Department of Justice and Correctional Services to set up a new parole board for convicted killer Donovan Moodley by March 2024. *https://archive.is/Pq5nU
Additional Biographical Information:
Links to Media articles:
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Leigh Matthews's Timeline
| 1983 |
July 8, 1983
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| 2004 |
July 9, 2004
Age 21
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Walkerville, Sedibeng, GP, South Africa
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