Acting high court Judge Patrick Maqubela could have died from a number of natural causes, the court heard.
|||Cape Town - Acting high court Judge Patrick Maqubela could have died from a number of natural causes, including allergic reactions or from the side-effects of taking Viagra.
This was the contention by the lawyers of Thandi Maqubela, on trial in the Western Cape High Court for her husband’s murder.
On Wednesday, Sipho Mfolozi, a forensic pathologist who had testified for the State in October, was cross-examined by the widow’s advocate, Marius Broeksma.
Mfolozi had conducted the post-mortem on Patrick Maqubela on June 8, 2009, the day after his body was found in his Bantry Bay flat. The State alleges that Thandi Maqubela and the co-accused, Vela Mabena, suffocated him on June 5, 2009.
Broeksma said a container of Bee-Propolis tablets, medication which could trigger anaphylaxis, had been found on the bedside table of the flat.
“I’m going to suggest that anaphylaxis may have been severe enough to be fatal and may not be detected at post-mortem especially when decomposed.”
He also asked Mfolozi about the impact of Sildenafil - an active ingredient of Viagra which Mfolozi said he had read about. The trial resumes on Monday
natasha.prince@inl.co.za
Cape Argus