Thandi Maqubela sentencing postponed

Ofm.co.za

November 20, 2013

Sentencing proceedings against convicted killer Thandi Maqubela were postponed by the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Her lawyer Marius Broeksma asked for a postponement until February 17.

"On behalf of the accused, I formally apply for a postponement in the matter to present expert evidence on sentencing," he said.

He told Judge John Murphy he had been unable to find a clinical psychologist because of the time of year. Prosecutor Bonnie Currie-Gamwo had no objection to the postponement.

She said that while the trial had taken a long time, she had sympathy for the defence's quandary. Maqubela would remain in custody.

She was found guilty of killing her husband Patrick, an acting judge, on June 5, 2009. Murphy convicted her despite not having conclusive medical evidence pinpointing a cause of death.

He said death from natural causes or suicide was excluded primarily by Thandi Maqubela's conduct, a plethora of lies and her persistence in "irrational subterfuge", which was wholly incompatible with an innocent person.

The court found Patrick Maqubela's serial adultery had brought the relationship to an explosive point in 2009. He was in a distressed state and confided to others the day before he was killed, on June 4, 2009, that he wanted to divorce his wife.

She was also found guilty of forging her husband's will and committing fraud by causing potential prejudice to his estate.

Murphy said it was unlikely Patrick Maqubela would have left almost his entire estate to his wife, and disinherited some of his children, when considering the state of his marriage.

Maqubela's co-accused and former business colleague, Vela Mabena, was acquitted on the murder charge because the evidence against him was not as strong.

The State had not proved his involvement beyond reasonable doubt and the acquittal was based on a finding of "not proven" rather than "factual innocence".

Black widow Thandi Maqubela guilty, co-accused acquitted

CityPress.co.za

November 7, 2013

The Western Cape High Court has found Thandi Maqubela guilty of murdering her husband, acting judge Patrick Maqubela.

Her co-accused, Vela Mabena, was acquitted on the basis that the state had not proved his involvement beyond reasonable doubt.

“Accused number one [Thandi Maqubela] is found guilty and accused number two is found not guilty,” said Judge John Murphy.

He said the acquittal was based on a finding of “not proven”, rather than of “factual innocence”.

Mabena left the dock and Maqubela stood alone as a swarm of photographers jostled for a position around her.

She handed a large, black leather bag and a pink file to her daughter and then hugged her.

A policewoman gestured to her to put her hands behind her back. She smiled and complied before being led down to the cells.

The court found that Patrick Maqubela’s serial adultery brought the couple’s relationship to an explosive point in 2009.

He was in a distressed state, and confided to others the day before he was killed, on June 4 2009, that he wished to divorce his wife.

“Accused one was in a vengeful and destructive mode,” said Murphy.

“She had appointed private investigators to investigate his private life, had threateningly confronted his lovers, and had disgraced him in the eyes of his friends, relatives and colleagues.”

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe saw her hours before the death and described her as angry and excitable.

Murphy said Thandi Maqubela’s propensity to become excitable when challenged was demonstrated more than once during her testimony.

The court could not make a finding on how the acting judge had died.

“At best, there exists a mere possibility that the deceased was suffocated after being subdued or restrained by undetectable means, chemical or physical, but even here we are in danger of drifting into the realm of speculation,” Murphy said.

However, proof of the exact means of death was not a prerequisite for conviction.

Murphy said death from natural causes or suicide was excluded primarily by Thandi Maqubela’s conduct, a plethora of lies and her persistence in “irrational subterfuge” which was wholly incompatible with an innocent person.

He also found her guilty of forging her husband’s will, and of committing fraud by causing potential prejudice to his estate.

It was unlikely Patrick Maqubela would have left almost his entire estate to his wife, and disinherited some of his children, when considering the state of his marriage.

“The inescapable conclusion is that Exhibit D [the alleged will] was not drafted by a lawyer,” Murphy said.

“It is even more unlikely that a professional attorney of many years standing, with extensive experience in commercial law, employed at a reputable firm of attorneys in Johannesburg, and serving as an acting judge at the time, would have drafted such a will or put his signature to it.”

Maqubela’s killer smile

Iol.co.za

November 8, 2013

Cape Town - Smiling slightly as officers handcuffed her, murderer Thandi Maqubela was led from the dock down the stairs to the holding cells – convicted of killing her husband, Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela.

Maqubela might have been elegant and stylish – but Judge John Murphy used other words to describe her in the Western Cape High Court when he found her guilty of murder, fraud and forgery.

“Vengeful”, “vindictive”, “lying” and “manipulative” were some of the adjectives he associated with the woman he found guilty of murdering her husband, whose shrouded body was found in his Bantry Bay apartment on Sunday, June 7, four years ago.

On Thursday, Judge Murphy completed his long judgment in a sensational trial that captured imaginations as allegations were made of infidelities, corrupt relationships with police, blackmail, Viagra, sex boosters, call girls, nude photographs and cling film.

The court has found that the acting judge died at some point on Friday, June 5, 2009 and that his wife had been present while his body lay decomposing in a heated bedroom.

Maqubela’s business associate and co-accused, Vela Mabenawas acquitted of all charges. In addition to being found guilty of murder, Maqubela was convicted of fraud and forgery relating to the acting judge’s will.

Judge Murphy started delivering his 220-page judgment on Monday.

As the verdict came, Maqubela and Mabena remained expressionless. As Judge Murphy told Mabena he was free to go, Maqubela calmly replaced her reading glasses with her trademark sunglasses, and handed her cellphone to her daughter. She then raised her arms to be cuffed, and was led down into the holding cells below the court while photographers clicked away. Someone in the gallery shouted: “Bye, Thandi.”

Judge Murphy said the prosecution had made out a compelling case of motive.

Maqubela had been “humiliated and outraged” by her husband’s infidelities.

“She was determined, in response, to destroy his career and reputation in the public domain,” he said. She was “plainly in a destructive mode”.

The fact that he had decided to leave her and she had discovered that he had reinstated a life insurance policy that would benefit her to the tune of millions in the event of his death – were the circumstances that “cumulatively” established “a credible motive to kill”.

The State set out to implicate Mabena and phone records showed that there was a fair amount of contact between him and Maqubela around the time of the acting judge’s death.

Judge Murphy labelled the communications as “suspicious”, as the pair claimed to hardly know each other.

However, the evidence against Mabena was “circumstantial and proves merely suspicious circumstances”, he said.

He noted that Mabena did not testify, but added that before an inference of guilt could be drawn, the case against him had to be strong enough to call for an answer.

“The mere fact that Mabena probably knew of the demise of the deceased and acted suspiciously before giving his statement to the police is not sufficient to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that he participated in killing the deceased.”

Mabena had no apparent motive, financial or otherwise, to kill Patrick Maqubela.

Turning to Maqubela, witnesses said they had been shown a dossier compiled by her containing information relating to the acting judge’s extra-marital affairs with younger women. It included photographs, copies of e-mails and text messages.

She had testified that she’d exposed her husband’s behaviour to get support to help him manage a bipolar disorder. But the judge said that she ultimately wanted to use the dossier to unmask him publicly in the media.

The supposed bipolar diagnosis was a “deceitful fabrication” to justify her behaviour, which was “a vengeful ploy to destroy her husband’s reputation”.

He referred to a quote in his testimony by Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, whom Maqubela had approached about her husband’s behaviour: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

In relation to the forgery and fraud charges, Judge Murphy said that the document handed in as a court exhibit, was a “document falsely purporting to be a copy of a non-existing will of the deceased” and was forged.

He added that Maqubela had falsified the document “with the intent to misrepresent to the Master of the Court”that the document was the acting judge’s will.

The “will” had effectively disinherited the judge’s children from a previous marriage in her favour.

Maqubela would have been the only person to have benefited financially had the forged will been accepted as avalid, and her share of the acting judge’s estate would have increased from 60 percent to |92 percent.

After the judge adjourned the court, relatives and friends of the Maqubelas, some of whom had flown to Cape Town from Gauteng for this week’s judgment, said they were relieved it was over.

Some of Patrick Maqubela’s sisters cried, while other relatives wore T-shirts with his picture on them.

His son, Duma Maqubela, said it had been a long four years and that the family was relieved.

Mazwaki Maqubela, Patrick Maqubela’s first wife, said it was “a sad day” and that her heart went out to Thandi Maqubela’s children and her family.

But in the same breath she added that justice had been served, and that “Thandi is a danger to the community”. She said Thandi Maqubela deserved a life sentence.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Eric Ntabazalila said they were happy with the outcome. “And we’re happy that the family is happy.”

The NPA issued a statement saying justice had been done.

Ntabazalila said: “We are happy to point out that the judge found that ‘the prosecution has not discharged its onus and proved the case against him beyond reasonable doubt’. In colloquial terms, as opposed to strict legal terms, our finding is one of not proven rather than an affirmation of factual innocence.”

Maqubela’s bail was revoked despite attempts by her attorney to have it extended.

She is expected back in court for sentencing on November 20.

Thandi Maqubela ‘created impression husband was still alive’