Rajani Devi Reuben-Murray was strangled to death. Picture: Supplied
THE charges against a man arrested for the murder of Phoenix pensioner, Rajani Devi Reuben-Murray, have been dropped.
Menolan Naidoo, of Goodhaven, in Phoenix, was 21 at the time of his arrest in September 2022, and was the first suspect police nabbed for the murder of Reuben-Murray, 67, on September 9.
Police later arrested Siviwe Magugu, 36, from Amaoti, who was employed by Reuben-Murray to maintain her garden and tend to odd jobs around her home.
On Monday, at the start of the trial in the Durban High Court, charges against Naidoo, who had turned State witness, were dropped by the State.
At the time of the incident, ReubenMurray had lived with her son in Foresthaven.
According to the indictments, some time before the incident, Magugu had sought assistance from Naidoo to rob Reuben-Murray, and he agreed to do so.
On September 9, Naidoo had accompanied Magugu to Reuben-Murray’s home under the pretext of assisting with the gardening work.
At some point during the day, the accused accosted her and forced her into the house, demanding valuables.
She was assaulted and strangled to death, the indictments read.
“The accused then removed a television, DVD surround sound system, electrical appliances, jewellery, cash and a cellphone, covered her body and fled the scene. They later sold the stolen items for cash.
“A post-mortem examination of the body established that the cause of death was consistent with strangulation,” read the indictment.
On Monday, Magugu was crossexamined.
He told the court that his source of income was derived from him being a grass-cutter.
He said he was working at a dump site near Reuben-Murray’s house when she spotted him and called him to assist her with removing bricks from her yard.
She had paid him R100 and asked him to return the next day to continue the work in her yard, he said.
“I asked the lady to add R50 more than what she was paying me. She said she could not but would ask her son if I could work at his house in Mount
Edgecombe,” Magugu said.
He told the court that he had worked for Reuben-Murray’s son on weekends, but for not longer than a month.
State prosecutor, advocate Gugu Xulu, asked Magugu what he had to say about being seen in video footage carrying items identified to have been taken from Reuben-Murray’s home on the same day that she was killed.
He said he was returning from the Phoenix Plaza and was on his way home when he noticed something covered with what looked like a duvet cover at the dump site near Reuben-Murray’s home.
“I went to see. I saw it was a TV and a big black bag. I then took the items and walked up the road. When I was near the lady’s driveway, I stood and searched in the bag. I stood at the road going towards the old lady’s house. This was about 30 metres away from her house,” he said.
He added that after he saw what was in the bag, he noticed an old man coming towards him. He thought the man was going to question him but the man did not.
“I carried the bag. It was heavy. I decided to pull it on the ground.
“While pulling it, I met up with Menolan. He assisted me and asked what I was going to give him. I said money. He then accompanied me to the road leading to Cornubia and I gave him R40. He complained and I gave him another R20. He took the money and left,” Magugu said.
After he and Naidoo parted ways, Magugu told the court that he had stopped in Cornubia to drink alcohol, and that he had left the TV and radio in Cornubia.
He said he took the amplifier home, where he tried to use it, but did not know how to.
He claimed that he had only found out that Reuben-Murray had been killed when he was locked in the Phoenix SAPS holding cells after his arrest.
Judge Makhosi Hadebe said she was interested in the sequence of the timing of Reuben-Murray’s death and Magugu not pitching up to work for her son the day after she died.
“You also seemed to be struggling with the items you were carrying. You even dragged items. From your own evidence, you were in the vicinity of the deceased’s house and worked with her son for a while.
“According to the deceased’s son, he was expecting you to come to work for him that day (after the killing). Did it occur to you to go to the deceased’s house and share with them that you were struggling to carry items?
“Did it not occur to you to ask for help with the items? Since they often gave you a lift, could you not have left the items at the deceased’s house and taken them on the days you went to work for her?” Hadebe asked.
Magugu said he did not think of that. The trial continues.
Sentencing in the case is expected by the end of the week.