Defence to call psychologist

WHY would someone not help family members who have been brutally attacked with an axe?

This is a question a psychologist will answer early next week in the Henri van Breda triple axe-murder trial.

Van Breda is accused of murdering his parents, Martin and Teresa‚ and his brother‚ Rudi‚ and leaving his sister, Marli, for dead in January 2015.

On Monday‚ Van Breda told the Cape Town High Court he had sat chain-smoking in the kitchen while waiting for emergency services to see to his family members‚ two of whom he claimed were still alive.

He had also not tried to help as his family allegedly came under attack by a masked intruder.

This seemed to raise alarm bells for Judge Siraj Desai and state prosecutor Susan Galloway.

But‚ according to his defence counsel‚ a psychologist will take the stand to give evidence that there is no typical way of responding to being in a house where people have been savagely attacked.

The report would be given to the state‚ after which the psychologist would take to the witness stand, Advocate Piet Botha said.

Desai said yesterday he was not convinced this could enrich the understanding of the case, but said he would reserve judgment on its validity until after the testimony.

Botha also asked questions to bolster the claims of a gloved attacker killing family members then fleeing after a scuffle with Van Breda. – TimesLIVE