'I found baby dead in my room'
2006-01-30 18:54
Cape Town - A young man described to the High Court on Monday how he found his six-month-old niece murdered on a blood-stained bed.
"(I) looked over at my bed (and) saw the deceased lying there with a pillow over her head... I picked her up and ran to press the panic button... I thought she was dead at the time (because) she wasn't moving or making any sounds," testified Dylan Norton.
He was giving evidence at the start of the trial of Dina Rodrigues, Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane, Zanethemba Gwada and a 16-year-old youth.
They are accused of slitting the throat of six-month-old Jordan-Leigh Norton in June last year.
Norton, led by State advocate Nicolette Bell, said he received a phone call on June 14 last year - the day before the murder - in which he was told a package would be delivered to his father's home in the suburb of Lansdowne.
"I'm not sure who the person was, it sounded like a white female."
Tied up and left in bathroom
Norton, 19, told Judge Bashier Waglay and two assessors, he was woken by domestic worker Thobeka Buso on June 15, and noticed Mfazwe, Bobotyane, Gwada and the youth standing in a passage in the family house.
He said that, at that stage, Buso was feeding the baby.
Norton said he was asked to sign a receipt for a box that had been delivered, before Gwada drew a knife.
Norton testified that he and Buso were tied up and forced into his parents' en-suite bathroom.
Once he thought the men had left, Norton opened the unlocked door to free himself.
He said that because he couldn't hear the baby, he thought she had been kidnapped.
Norton said he ran outside to catch a glimpse of the accused, before going to his bedroom to get his cellphone and alert authorities.
House had been ransacked
He found the baby in his room with blood on her neck.
During Norton's testimony, Rodrigues was seen wiping tears from her eyes, as were a number of people in the public gallery.
Norton, who needed a few moments to compose himself, told the court the house had been ransacked.
Among the items stolen were a .38 Taurus revolver and 10 rounds of ammunition, R400 in cash, two leather jackets, and 20 music CDs.
Earlier on Monday, the five accused, who were led into the dock handcuffed, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges were conspiracy to murder, murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Rodrigues pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of intimidation.
She is alleged to have sent threatening SMS messages to former boyfriend and Jordan-Leigh's biological father, Neil Wilson.
Inspection of the crime scene
These SMS messages to Wilson and another State witness led to Rodrigues's R20 000 bail being revoked by Wynberg magistrate's court in September 2005.
Her co-accused were previously denied bail and she joined them in custody.
The State claims that Rodrigues was behind the murder.
On Monday morning, the court adjourned for an in-loco inspection of the crime scene by the defence teams and the State.
Advocate Charles Simon, appearing for the four male accused, had requested for the in-loco inspection after the magistrate's court had refused a previous request.
Advocate John van der Berg, for Rodrigues, placed on record that he still had not received a "score card" from the State's handwriting expert who linked Rodrigues to the crime scene, and asked the court to expedite this and other material information.
As with previous appearances, the family of the murdered baby held aloft posters on the court's steps reading, "Justice for Jordan" and "South Africa: Stop the killings".
The case continues on Tuesday.
- SAPA