Rodrigues and hitmen await sentencing for Baby Jordan killing

The State had alleged that Rodrigues hired taxi driver Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane, Zanethemba Gwada and Bonginkosi Sigenu to kill the six-month-old infant by posing as couriers to gain entry to the Norton family home in Cape Town, says a report on the IoL site. Jordan was the daughter of Natasha Norton and Neil Wilson, who became Rodrigues\' boyfriend after fathering the child. Waglay took nearly three days to deliver the judgment, which had to be translated into Xhosa for the benefit of Rodrigues\' co-accused. According to a report in The Witness, he dismissed a conspiracy to murder charge against all five accused, saying a conviction would be a duplication of the murder charge. He found the four men guilty of robbery of the Norton home and Mfazwe alone guilty of the unlawful possession of a firearm taken from the home. He found all five not guilty on a charge of unlawful possession of ammunition, and also dismissed a charge of intimidation against Rodrigues, saying that there was not enough evidence to show that she sent threatening SMS messages to Wilson. After handing down his verdict, Waglay postponed the case to June 4 for sentencing procedures. Full report on Mail & Guardian Online site Full report in The Witness See also a report on the News24 site

The investigating officer came under fire from Waglay, who said the evidence of Captain Esmerald Bailey had to be approached with ‘extreme caution and care’. There had to be strong corroboration before any part of it was accepted. He said that after Bailey arrested Rodrigues, several sets of fingerprints were taken from her because the first two sets were lost. This created the impression the investigation was conducted inefficiently, Waglay said. After Rodrigues\' release on bail Bailey went to the young woman\'s home to take another set, but forgot to take fingerprinting equipment with her, and Rodrigues had to accompany her to a police station, according to a report on the News24 site. Waglay said taking prints was an intrusion. In addition, he said, it was not clear from a list Bailey compiled whether she had taken 14, 17 or 25 waybills from Rodrigues\' place of work. He spoke of her ‘arrogance’ in conducting a search of Rodrigues\' home, which was preceded by a poor attempt to get a search warrant. Waglay said the defence had objected during the trial to evidence related to the search on the grounds that the warrant was invalid, and he had upheld that objection. Waglay also found during the trial that the warrant for Bailey\'s search for handwriting samples at Rodrigues\' place of work was defective, but ruled that the items found during it could be produced in court. Waglay confirmed his previous provisional admission of statements by three of Rodrigues\' co-accused, Mfazwe, Bobotyane and Sigenu, ruling that they were made freely and voluntarily. He also accepted that Mfazwe pointed out various items including a cellphone, safe and gun stolen from baby Jordan\'s family home at the time of the killing. Full report on News24 site