Cape Town - The former bodyguard of slain “Steroid King” Brian Wainstein has openly admitted to lying to alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield after planning the murder of his own boss.
The shocking revelation was made as the bodyguard, who has fingered Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and Mark Lifman as being behind the plan to murder the international fugitive, told the Western Cape High Court how he tried to cover his own tracks.
Wainstein was gunned down in his Constantia home in August 2017, as he lay sleeping next to his wife and child.
At the time of his murder, he was named on Interpol’s Most Wanted list as he allegedly fled the US.
In the mammoth underworld trial, the State has brought Wainstein’s former bodyguard to take the stand and outline his links to the 27s gang as well as Booysen and Lifman.
In his version, the bodyguard, who may not be named, undertook to betray Wainstein in a bid to take over the steroid trade, but admitted that the business flopped after the murder.
The bodyguard, along with his brother and Kishor “Kamal” Naidoo, allegedly set-up the plan to murder Wainstein.
A recording of a cellphone call was played in court where Stanfield is heard questioning the bodyguard extensively on the details surrounding the murder. In his testimony, the witness told the court that he was afraid of Stanfield, who he believed was a “scary man” and told the court he lied to Stanfield, fearing that his role in the murder would be revealed.
“Mr Stanfield is a very scary man. I suspected he knew I was part of it,” the witness said.
Asked why he lied to Stanfield to implicate Wainstein’s wife in the murder, the bodyguard said: “I was trying to give him a bone so he wouldn’t look to me. It was to distract and deceive [him]. I had a sense that he knew.”
According to the State’s case at the time, Lifman was in conflict with Wainstein over property and investments.