Judge murder: cop dies

ONE of the policemen who arrested Thandi Maqubela on charges of murdering her husband - an acting judge - has died in a car crash.

Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Dryden was killed when his unmarked police vehicle was involved in a three-car pile-up before midnight on Friday.

The 42-year-old, described by the police as "one of our best" detectives, had been on his way home from a function.

This week evidence was led in the High Court in Cape Town about the mysterious use of Judge Patrick Maqubela's cellphone when he lay dead in his Bantry Bay flat in Cape Town.

Cellphone records show that on June 5 2009 - the day the state said the acting judge had died - 10 calls were made from his phone, and 11 SMSs were sent from the device. One call was to Vela Mabena, a co-accused in the trial. Another was to the judge's office.

Police testified they could not find Judge Maqubela's phone when his body was discovered - but that it turned up inside the pocket of one of his jackets the day after his widow had spent the night in the flat.

Before his phone was turned off, somebody had checked voice messages on the device at least four times.

Maqubela was arrested in March 2010, nine months after her husband's death.

The state alleges that the widow had suffocated the acting judge and forged his will so that she could defraud his estate.

She has denied all charges.

In the trial the court has heard claims of fraud, betrayal and allegations that Judge Maqubela was a sex addict.

Among the witnesses called to testify were Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and several sitting judges.

Maqubela was released on R100000 bail. She lives in a rented property in Cape Town, where she is under house arrest.