Leigh Matthews

Case background and investigation

Leigh Matthews was a 21-year-old student reading for a BCom degree in finance at Bond University's South African campus in Morningside, Sandton, in Johannesburg. She had turned 21 the day before she was taken. According to the account summarised by Wikipedia, she was abducted from the university parking lot on Friday, July 9, 2004.

A ransom demand was made to her father, Rob Matthews, shortly afterwards. He left R50,000 at a drop-off point near the Grasmere toll plaza, south of Johannesburg. His daughter was not released. Her body was found on July 21, 2004, in open veld near Walkerville, close to the R82 road. She had been shot four times.

The investigation was later taken over by the detective Piet Byleveld. Police arrested Donovan Moodley, then 24 and also a Bond University student, on October 4, 2004.

Moodley pleaded guilty in the Johannesburg High Court on July 25, 2005, to murder, kidnapping and extortion, and was convicted on his plea. On August 4, 2005, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, 15 years for the kidnapping and 10 years for the extortion. According to Wikipedia, he subsequently tried several times to have the conviction or sentence set aside, and the courts dismissed each attempt, the last in February 2012. Because the guilty plea meant the evidence was never tested at trial, Byleveld's stated belief that Moodley had not acted alone was never examined in court. No one else has been charged.

Moodley has applied for parole several times without success, according to Eyewitness News, which reported that on September 15, 2025, the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board recommended his release. Rob Matthews criticised the recommendation, saying the board had considered records covering only about a year and a half of Moodley's time in custody.

The recommendation still required review by the National Council for Correctional Services and a decision by the minister. In December 2025 the Department of Correctional Services announced that the minister, Pieter Groenewald, acting on the council's advice, had declined to grant parole. According to Eyewitness News, Moodley must complete further programmes before a new application can be considered, which is expected to take at least two years. He remains in prison.