Widow of murdered top cop Charl Kinnear wants answers — including why her cellphone was tracked

It took Nicolette Kinnear more than two months to start picking up the pieces, enduring excruciating pain and heartbreak and regaining her composure. It has been an arduous journey for the widow and her two children since the day her husband was gunned down in front of their house at 10 Gearing Road, Bishop Lavis, Cape Town on 18 September.

When the fatal shots were fired around 3pm, Kinnear’s cellphone was pinged more than 2,000 times. It was pinged again 25 minutes after the shooting, and then the pinging stopped. Former rugby player and debt collector Zane Kilian has been arrested in connection with the murder. 

It is the state’s case that the exact movement of Kinnear on that day and at the time he was shot ensured that the meticulous murder plot was carried out to the letter. It is against this backdrop that Kilian is facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and the unlawful interception of communication.

“I was aware that both my husband’s and my cellphone were being pinged. On 6 September, two weeks before Charl’s death, a report on the pinging of our phones was drawn up and handed to the Hawks and to Crime Intelligence.

“On 16 September the report indicated an increase in pinging and anti-gang unit head Andre Lincoln phoned Charl to find out where he was and told my husband his phone was again pinged. Luckily my husband was at home on that day,” said Nicolette Kinnear.

On the day of the murder, Kinnear’s son came out to move his car so that his father could park in their driveway. The widow still has nightmares thinking about the possible scenario had her son come out of the house seconds earlier, as he would have witnessed the shooting and could have been killed as well.

She said it boggled the mind that with the crucial pinging evidence at their disposal, police management did nothing to prevent the assassination of one of their members.

A closer look at investigations dealt with by Kinnear before his death revealed clear-cut collusion between corrupt police officers and well-known underworld figures involved in an alleged gun-licence racket. Several police officers and alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack were arrested, charged and later released on bail in connection with the alleged racket.

Kinnear’s investigation also laid bare links with the Gauteng mafia – comprised of top businessmen – which suggests that the tentacles of the syndicate might go much deeper with alleged links to top municipal officers and political figures. This raises the question whether the reluctance by police management to react when the pinging of Kinnear’s phone on 6 September became known, was negligent on their part or to cover up the bigger picture.

On Tuesday, 8 December Nicolette Kinnear will be at the Bellville Regional Court to listen to arguments in Kilian’s bail application. She hopes for some clarity on her unanswered questions and on who is intricately linked to his death.

The state opposed bail on grounds that Kilian had pinged the cellular numbers of the Kinnear since 20 April 2020 at least 2,408 times; that the pinging on the day of the assassination on 18 September began in the early hours; the pinging significantly increased and 15 minutes before the shooting Kinnear’s phone was allegedly pinged every three minutes.

Another contentious issue to be explored by the state is that about R5-million flowed through Kilian’s bank account of which R2.3-million occurred between March and September 2020. The state claims the latter was part of the payment to track the phone of Kinnear and other individuals, including criminal lawyer William Booth, well-known alleged Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and a sergeant who worked with Kinnear on the gun-licence racket.

On why Kilian should not be released on bail, the prosecution will argue that there is a likelihood that the accused will attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses and that the accused’s only source of income is debt collection and tracking cellphones and there is a possibility that he will continue to do so.

The state will paint a grim picture depicting the accused’s connection to known persons in the underworld, showing him as part of an organised crime syndicate, and that, although he did not pull the trigger, he had a vital role in the plot that claimed Kinnear’s life.

But Eric Bryer, Kilian’s lawyer, is adamant that his client isn’t the only person who pinged cellphones in the country, adding his client started such activity only around March 2020. In his affidavit, Kilian said he obtained the software and user code for the tool to ping cellphones from a Mr Goldblatt, adding that he only realised later that neither the platform nor the code was exclusive to him. This has been vehemently denied by Brad Goldblatt.

The state’s case will be led by advocate Gregg Wolmarans with advocate Johan van Aswegen appearing for Kilian. DM/MC