unfounded, the Court does not find it necessary to examine the same under the
VCCR.
ii. The allegation that the investigation was improper and insufficient
97. The Applicant claims that the Respondent State did not ensure a "proper, fair,
professional and diligent investigation of the matter" given especially that "core evidence"
that could have led to other potential suspects were not investigated or were
destroyed. He alleges that if the evidence referred to had been presented in court it
would have proved that he did not commit the crime.
98.lt is also the Applicant's contention that two other bodies had previously been
discovered at the same place where his wife's body was found, but there was no
investigation into whether there was a connection between the three (3) victims,
which could have raised a reasonable doubt as to his involvement.
99. The Applicant further avers that extraneous evidence was used to convict him, such
as evidence that he had previously beaten his wife and that he was allegedly having
an extra marital affair. He also claims that emalls allegedly between him and his lover
were admitted as evidence, despite the fact that no investigation was conducted to
verify their origin and the Applicant denied being the author.
100. In his Reply, the Applicant alleges that the Respondent State failed to investigate
several contradictions. First, the Applicant avers that he was convicted on only
circumstantial evidence as the Respondent State failed to find evidence directly
linking him to the crime. Second, he claims that no investigation was conducted on
the deceased's car from which the police did not take fingerprints because they
were convinced of his guilt since he had been seen driving it and he was the last
person to drive it.
101. Finally, the Applicant alleges that, due to the fact that he was not represented by a
lawyer at the time he gave his statement to the police, the said statement was
manipulated and used against him during the trial. He further alleges that the fact
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