AN alleged accomplice to the murder of Howick woman Monika Manilall on February 3, 2006 testified yesterday that after Manilall was shot and lay bleeding on the floor of the passage next to her baby, she suddenly jumped up and ran to a bedroom where she activated a panic alarm.

Moments later, her executioner fired a second shot through the back of her head.

The state alleges that Mumtaz Osman and Sanesh Manilall masterminded the murder because of their extramarital affair. They married under religious rites after Osman had been charged with the murder.

Phumlani Madlala testified that he was outside the Manilall residence talking to gardeners in a neighbouring yard when he heard gunfire inside the house. He saw one of his companions beckon him and went inside. In a passage he saw an Indian woman lying on the floor covered in blood while her baby sat next to her.

Madlala said the gunman, Siyabonga Mdlalose, was removing a magazine from his firearm. Moments later he saw the woman suddenly get up and run to the bedroom where she activated an alarm. He and Siyabonga followed her, and Siyabonga shot her in the back of the head. “I heard the window shattering and she fell,” he said. As they fled, they passed the baby still sitting in the passage.

Under cross-examination, Madlala said that when he first saw Manilall she had been “crying and screaming” and making a wailing sound. He said the child was not crying.

Madlala has told the court that he and three other men participated in the killing in exchange for payment of R10 000. For him this was a large sum, he said under cross-examination by advocate Shane Matthews.

He said that at the time of the incident he was only 18 years old, but admitted that he had “not hesitated”to take part in the murder. He said he did not realise the “difficulties” it would cause until he was arrested.

Madlala has testified that Mbatha approached the killers on behalf of Osman. He also alleges that after Monika Manilall was killed, the assailants were supposed to murder Osman’s husband.

He insisted yesterday that Osman was present in the car when the killers were taken to the scene of the assassination and discussed “security” issues with them via Mbatha. After the murder, Mbatha and Osman picked up him and the gunman. In the car Mbatha asked if they had shot the person they were supposed to kill, and on being told they had, mentioned that there was “someone else” that had to be killed and that they should not do it right away. He was referring to Osman’s husband.

Madlala said later — when the four assailants had been reunited — that Mbatha paid them R10 000 in R100 notes.They divided the money between them. Then some of his companions produced items that had been taken from the house, including a plastic bag with R5 000 in cash, a woman’s wristwatch and a cellphone. He said the additional money was also shared between the four of them.

Defence advocates have challenged Madlala over differences between his testimony in court and his original police statement.

Yesterday’s evidence was given before Judge Herbert Msimang and an assessor by Phumlani Madlala, who is testifying for the prosecution at the trial of Mboniseni Victor Mbatha (28), Mumtaz Osman (34) and her husband, Sanesh Manilall (35), who was married to the victim at the time of the murder.