Toxicology tests on judge
2009-06-11 14:00
Cape Town - Toxicology tests are being conducted on the body of acting high court judge Patrick Maqubela, who is believed to have been murdered, health authorities said on Thursday.
"Histology and toxicology tests were taken during the autopsy and the results of this will further inform the autopsy findings," said Western Cape health spokesperson Faiza Steyn.
The police have declined to comment on an unsourced report in Beeld newspaper on Thursday that Maqubela died of suspected rat poisoning.
The report, citing a reliable source, said it had not been conclusively determined that Maqubela was poisoned, but it was considered to be a strong possibility.
According to the source, this would explain the blood that was found on Maqubela's pillow.
Toxicology expert Deon Knobel told Beeld that rat poison, which contains the ingredient Warfarin, could cause bleeding.
No new information
But Superintendent Andre Traut said there was no new information available on the case.
He declined to speculate on the possible causes of death, saying the police would be guided by the post-mortem results.
Steyn said it was not known when the results of the toxicology tests would be available.
"It is therefore not possible to say when the final autopsy findings will be available as we are reliant on a National Toxicology Laboratory and other parties, for the toxicology results," Steyn said.
Histology tests are microscopic tissue tests while toxicology tests are used to determine the presence of high levels of a toxic chemical.
The judge's body was discovered at his home at around 16:00 on Sunday after he failed to answer calls from concerned colleagues and family.
Heart attack diagnosis
An initial diagnosis by a state pathologist on the scene suggested that he had suffered a "severe heart attack" on Friday.
Further police investigations of the scene of his death revealed the possibility of criminal activity.
The case docket was then changed to a murder investigation.
"The inquest investigation into the death of Acting Judge Patrick Maqubela has been altered to a murder investigation as a preliminary post mortem could not determine the exact cause of death," Traut said on Tuesday.
"A thorough investigation by Sea Point police revealed information and evidence which suggested that the angle of our investigations is directed to the possibility of a crime, and therefore the case docket has been changed to a murder investigation."
Maqubela was hearing the City of Cape Town's application to evict refugees from the Bluewaters camp near Muizenberg, set up last year after the outbreak of xenophobic violence.
During apartheid, Maqubela was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of high treason after being arrested in 1981.
He spent some of his time in Pollsmoor Prison with ANC veterans Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni and Ahmed Kathrada.
- SAPA