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Man convicted of murder in shooting of taxi driver

Jurors convicted a Menlo Park man April 13 of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of a taxi driver in Redwood City early on a Saturday morning in 2003.

Lousa Mataele, 37, of Menlo Park, sat quietly at the defense table as the verdict was read in San Mateo County Superior Court.

The cab driver, 21-year-old Davinder Singh, was shot to death on Sept. 13, 2003.

Mr. Mataele was initially found incompetent to stand trial in 2005 and was placed at Napa State Hospital. But in April 2008, the California Department of Mental Health found that his competency had been restored and a judge reinstated criminal proceedings.

In addition to murder, Mr. Mataele was found guilty of fatally shooting Mr. Singh in the commission of a robbery and of attempting to rob Mr. Singh before he killed him.

Jurors also convicted him of attempted murder for shooting another man in the taxi, Jaime Torres, but found him not guilty of attempting to rob Mr. Torres.

— Bay City News Service