DISMISSED

Honeymoon Murder Case Tossed Out

Shrien Dewani is a free man.

A South African judge dismissed the so-called honeymoon murder case, saying there wasn’t sufficient evidence that Indian millionaire Shrien Dewani arranged for his wife, Anni, to be murdered. Judge Jeanette Traverso said the prosecution’s evidence fell “far below the threshold” of what a court needed to convict someone of murder. She said the main witness for the prosecution, cab driver Zola Tongo, who is serving a life sentence for Anni’s murder, gave testimony that was “riddled with contradictions” and “highly debatable.” Xolile Mngeni, the hitman accused of killing Anni, died awaiting trial. The decision ends a four-year effort to prove Dewani paid South African taxi drivers to stage a carjacking and murder his wife on their 2010 honeymoon. During the leadup to his extradition from the U.K. and his trial, intimate details about his sex life and mental health were revealed. “We feel really, really sad because we have not heard the full story,” said a spokesperson for Anni Dewani’s family following the judge’s ruling. A dismissal will represent “a lifetime of torture” to them.