Ballistics expert casts doubt over axe murder accused Van Breda’s plea statement

A BALLISTICS expert in the De Zalze murder case has cast a major shadow of doubt over part of Henri van Breda’s plea statement.

Van Breda‚ the triple axe murder accused‚ claimed in his plea statement that after a scuffle with an intruder, he (Van Breda) had thrown the axe down the stairs after managing to grab it from the alleged attacker.

Yesterday in the Cape Town High Court‚ however‚ a ballistics expert from the SAPS‚ Captain Candice Brown said that an axe being thrown down the stairs appeared possible but highly unlikely.

Van Breda’s parents‚ Teresa and Martin‚ and his brother Rudi‚ lost their lives while his sister‚ Marli‚ clung to life for at least three hours before help arrived and survived the ordeal that occurred in January 2015.

Brown‚ who is based at the Plattekloof Laboratory‚ said after being called to the crime scene, she discovered three deep markings on the wall – one on the top landing where the bodies were found‚ one on the middle landing of the staircase‚ and one near the front door of the house.

The one on the staircase showed signs of such great force that it had ripped a chunk of plaster and cement from the wall‚ exposing the brick beneath.

In his plea statement‚ Van Breda claimed that after a scuffle, “I saw the attacker near the middle landing by stairs. I am not a fast runner so I threw the axe at him. I did not see where or what the axe struck”.

According to Brown‚ however‚ when an axe is flying through the air‚ and Newton’s laws of movement are applied‚ it is highly unlikely such a deep impact mark would have resulted.

She said that‚ since the brick was exposed‚ the axe would have had to work its way through about 15mm of plaster first to expose the brick.