A Durban accountant who is charged with the murder of his former girlfriend, claims he has no recollection of how she died.
Vinoba Naidoo, 35, was killed at a Glenwood flat in August 2010. The State alleges she was killed as a result of suffocation when accountant Nick Longano stood on her neck. The force of the assault was such that the imprint of his shoe was transferred on to her neck.
Longano, 39, is claiming that owing to his mental state during the attack, he was incapable of controlling his actions or appreciating their wrongfulness.
He testified that Naidoo broke up with him in July 2010 and left their Glenwood flat. He said he was shocked because they had been together for eight years.
He said the break-up, along with work stress, had made him severely depressed and suicidal, and he was put on prescription medication for the depression and anxiety which had adverse side-effects, including blurred vision.
He claims that on the day of the murder, he took a cocktail of prescription medication and went to meet Naidoo at their flat to sort through possessions as the property was to be sold. He said an argument ensued and that Naidoo struck him with a candlestick holder, they struggled and he then saw her lying on the floor, not moving. “We argued over possessions, it escalated and we ended up hurling abuse at each other. I cannot remember what sparked the argument. I do not remember standing on her neck.”
During cross-examination by State advocate Nadira Moosa, Longano said he could not remember whether Naidoo had struck him with the candlestick holder or had attempted to hit him with it.
Longano said that his memory of the day was “fragmented” and he could not recall exactly what happened.
Asked by Moosa why, after the killing, he had called his mother and two friends before contacting emergency services, Longano said he had been in shock.
“I did not know what to think because I did not know what had happened. I was shocked and confused. I remember that I called people but not what was said.”
Naidoo’s relatives were in court yesterday, some wearing T-shirts saying “In loving memory of Vinoba Naidoo” below a picture of her.
The trial continues today.
