Judge killed over divorce plan

By Jenna Etheridge

An angry and excitable Thandi Maqubela killed her husband Patrick after he made it clear he wanted a divorce, the Western Cape High Court ruled on Thursday.

Thandi Maqubela

Judge John Murphy found her guilty of the acting judge's death in Cape Town on June 5, 2009, despite not having conclusive medical evidence pinpointing a cause.

“At best there exists a mere possibility that the deceased was suffocated after being subdued or restrained by undetectable means, chemical or physical,” Murphy said.

“But even here we are in danger of drifting into the realm of speculation.”

Proof of the exact means of death was not, however, 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.

She was found to have told no less than 30 to 40 lies both in and out of court.

The court found that 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 the will of her husband 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.

“The inescapable conclusion is that exhibit D (the alleged will) was not drafted by a lawyer,” Murphy said.

Maqubela would remain in custody until her sentencing on November 20.

Sapa