Photo wipes out expert evidence

Drama in court as defence presents picture

RELEASED publicly for the first time, this is the photograph of murder accused Henri van Breda that countered the prosecution’s expert witness testimony that the hair his critically injured sister, Marli van Breda, was clutching on the operating table belonged to him.

The photograph was taken of Henri in an ambulance on the morning his parents and brother were murdered.

The dramatic presentation of this picture in the Western Cape High Court this week followed probing cross-examination by defence advocate Pieter Botha of police forensic hair expert Colonel Henry Stewart.

Stewart’s testimony for the state initially seemed pretty damning for Henri, who is accused of axing his parents and brother to death in their Stellenbosch home in January 15 and attempting to murder his younger sister.

His evidence was enough to plant a graphic image in the minds of those in the public gallery of Marli desperately grabbing at Henri’s hair as axe blows rained down on her.

But the seasoned Botha was having none of it. Inch by inch he revealed that Stewart’s forensic tests might have been biased because investigators had identified crime scene hair samples instead of letting Stewart examine them objectively without knowing whose hair he was looking at.

Botha questioned why Stewart had not told the court some of the hairs found on the crime scene belonged to unidentified people.

As for photos of Marli’s hand showing a 200mm plus strand of blond hair curled around her forefinger and lying across her palm, Botha disputed Stewart’s claim the hair could have come from Henri, pointing out that at the time of the murders his client had closely cropped hair at best 30 mm long.

“What are the chances that the hair in Marli’s hand could have come from my client?” asked a bristling Botha, holding up Henri’s photograph in a manner akin to a traffic officer halting traffic.

“The chances are slim,” conceded Stewart.

“The chances, with respect, are nil,” boomed the burly Botha. “If you had known my client’s hair was as short as it is in this photograph could you have excluded him immediately?”

Stewart’s sheepish agreement was almost superfluous.

● Botha was part of the defence team that successfully demolished the case against British businessman Shrien Dewani, who was accused of hiring hitmen to kill his Swedish bride, Anni, in 2010.

Above and right, Henri van Breda in an ambulance shortly after police arrived on the murder scene nearly two years ago.