Van Breda killed his family
Henri hacked dad, mom and brother
Henri van Breda has been found guilty of the murder of his father‚ mother and brother and the attempted murder of his sister.
He was also found guilty of defeating the ends of justice‚ after standing trial for a total of 66 days in one of South Africa’s most sensational murder trials yet.
Van Breda’s brother Rudi and father Martin were found hacked to death in an upstairs room of their luxury estate home in Stellenbosch on January 27 2015. His mother Teresa and sister Marli were found “nearby in the doorway” close to the same room. Judge Siraj Desai’s judgment was delivered yesterday in the packed Cape Town High Court.
Desai mapped out a judgment that left no room for doubt‚ referring to the “highly unlikely” chance of an intruder having breached the De Zalze estate perimeter; the wounds on Van Breda’s body‚ deemed “self-inflicted” by two “highly professional” and credible expert witnesses; the aggressive fight heard by a neighbour on the night of the attacks; and Van Breda’s emotionless state in court – “even as he described the fatal blows to his parents and brother”.
The judge said it would be odd for an intruder to try to wipe out an entire family and “leave one member” with so little harm. He said Van Breda had neither tried to help nor consoled his family members and displayed “a peculiar lack of empathy”‚ instead phoning his teenage girlfriend.
He also said Van Breda’s call to emergency services on the night of the attack had shown a “lack of urgency” and that the “demeanour of the accused” during an “unduly long conversation” with emergency services seemed “highly unusual for a traumatised victim”.
The judge added that Van Breda “was the only person alive who could remember what had happened”‚ but had “sarcastically responded that he had no idea who the attackers were”.
Referring to Van Breda’s plea statement‚ in which he claimed there had been unknown intruders on the premises‚ Desai said the court agreed with the prosecutor “that it is highly unlikely the perimeter [of De Zalze estate] was breached by an intruder”.
There was “no credible evidence that an intruder entered the estate” on the night of the incident‚ the judge said.
Desai added that Van Breda would have had ample time to tamper with evidence. Each piece of evidence “on its own” might not have been enough to convict him‚ said the judge‚ but “cumulatively” there was only one reasonable inference that could be drawn from the evidence and testimonies – that Van Breda was guilty.
Desai said the court had concluded the chances were “virtually nil” that a second axe had been used at the crime scene. The lack of Marli’s blood on the axe did not mean she had not been attacked with the same axe.
Van Breda’s bail was revoked and he was detained in the hospital section of Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town while awaiting sentencing.
He turns 23 tomorrow.