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Baby Jordan: Teen tells story
12/02/2007 17:10 - (SA)
Cape Town - A teenager told the Cape High Court on Monday of his reluctance to get involved in the alleged murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton.
The youth turned 18 in prison last Sunday, but may still not be named until the judge decides on Thursday whether he should be identified along with his other four co-accused.
Led by his new counsel, Caryl Verrier, he told Judge Basheer Waglay and two assessors that alleged mastermind Dina Rodrigues had offered shebeen and taxi owner Sipho Mfazwe R10 000 for the murder of the infant.
The indictment cites Mfazwe as accused No 1 in the case, and Rodrigues as No 3.
Shocked by the plan
The teenager said he and co-accused Mongezi Bobotyane and Zanethemba Gwada had been playing pool at Mfazwe's shebeen, when Mfazwe told them of Rodrigues's R10 000 offer.
He said he was shocked to hear of the plan - to gain access to the Norton home by staging an armed robbery, and to then stab the infant to death - but he agreed to take part.
Asked by Verrier why he agreed to take part, he replied: "Because the others agreed, there was no reason for me not to agree - I did not want to say no to them."
The teenager said Mfazwe had the address of the Norton home on a slip of paper, and they went on a Sunday, with Mfazwe in his taxi, to the address to see where it was.
The teenager told the court: "Mfazwe said it had to look like a robbery, and not as if we had only gone there to kill.
"I told myself I would just go there to take what I could, but not to do anything else."
At their first attempt to get into the home, Gwada pretended to deliver telephone directories, but this failed because the Norton family already had directories.
They got into the house on their second visit, with the teenager himself, under Mfazwe's orders, pretending to be a courier delivering a parcel with a way bill.
Rodrigues, after learning of their failure with the telephone directories, had herself given them the parcel and way bill in a public parking area, he said.
The teenager said he entered the house and placed the parcel on a table together with the way bill "for the white man to sign".
Once the teenager was in the house, the other three followed, armed with knives.
The teenager said his orders from Mfazwe were to find the baby and take him into a room to choke the infant.
The teenager said he calmed the infant as he carried him into a room.
He told the court: "Bobotyane was behind me, and asked why I am not killing the baby as ordered to do.
"I told him he can do it because I'm not doing it, but he must first give me time to get out the house."
Showed bloody knif
As he left the house, Mfazwe told the teenager to remove the safe, which he did.
The youth said he returned to the taxi, followed first by Mfazwe and then the others.
In the taxi, Bobotyane confirmed he had stabbed the baby and produced a knife with blood on it.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.
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