A mysterious rich “friend” has hired a new lawyer for Zane Kilian to defend him in the murder case of Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
After nine months in the mang, father Hein Kilian, 69, revealed that the family had run out of money to cover his son’s legal costs and they had to let his lawyer go.
But a friend with deep pockets has now hired a new defence attorney for Kilian.
The 39-year-old rugby player returned to the dock at the Blue Downs Regional Court yesterday alongside alleged underworld figures Nafiz Modack, Jacques Cronje, Ricardo Morgan, and Anti-Gang-Unit (AGU) officer Sergeant Ashley Tabisher for the continuation of their bail hearing.
The five men along with Jannick Adonis and Amaal Jantjies are charged with being part of the “Nafiz Modack Enterprise” who the state contends is behind the plot to murder AGU commander Kinnear and top criminal lawyer William Booth.
The state was set to respond to the affidavits of the five men, submitted as part of their bail application, but during court proceedings it was revealed that Kilian had appointed a new lawyer, Danie Gouws, to represent him.
The case was postponed to 5 August for the new attorney to familiarise himself with the matter.
Speaking to the Daily Voice, Hein Kilian says a close friend has stepped forward to pay for his son’s legal costs because the family can’t afford private lawyers anymore.
“One of his friends has come on board to pay for his legal costs as the family is running out of funds. He has been incarcerated for nine months for a lot of things that don’t make sense,” says the dad.
According to the state’s case, Kilian allegedly pinged the cellphone of Kinnear as part of the murder plot.
Kinnear was shot dead outside his Bishop Lavis home on 18 September last year.
He had been investigating Modack’s alleged role in an underworld battle to control the Cape Town nightclub security industry.
Cops pounced on Kilian at his home in Springs while Modack and the other accused were arrested in April by the national task team.
The state alleges they plotted to kill lawyer Booth, who survived the hit.
In May, Kilian’s father revealed that as the Hawks had failed to find Kinnear’s shooter, he had sent a team of private investigators to Cape Town to find the lone gunman, who was caught on camera running away from the scene.
He said the team has discovered several things: “The investigators have done a great job and have found a lot of facts and evidence that we will reveal when the time is right.”