The appellant was convicted in the Western Cape High Court of murdering her husband, Patrick Ntobeko Maqubela, allegedly by suffocation. She was also convicted of forgery and fraud relating to a forged will, but the appeal concerned only the murder conviction. The State relied on expert medical evidence regarding the cause of death and on the appellant’s conduct after the death, which was said to demonstrate consciousness of guilt and mendacity. Conflicting expert pathologists testified: the State expert suggested unnatural causes could not be excluded, while the defence expert opined that natural cardiac causes were the more probable cause of death. The trial court held that the medical evidence was inconclusive and convicted the appellant of murder based largely on her post‑death conduct.