Axe killer gets life terms

LABELLING the attacks on his family as “savage”, Western Cape High Court judge Siraj Desai yesterday sentenced 23-year-old Henri van Breda to life behind bars for the murders three years ago.

Van Breda was sentenced to three life terms for the murders of his parents, Martin and Teresa, and his older brother Rudi, in January 2015.

He was further sentenced to 15 years for the attempted murder of his sister, Marli, who was 16 years old at the time of the attacks. On the charge of defeating the ends of justice, he received 12 months.

The sentences will run concurrently, which means Van Breda will only be able to apply for parole, which will not necessarily be granted, 25 years from now.

Van Breda was last month convicted of the brutal axe attacks on his family at their home in the security estate De Zalze, in Stellenbosch, on January 27, 2015.

Violence

Judge Desai said the murders had been carried out with “unbridled violence” against his immediate family, and no motive had ever been revealed to the court.

“You have not told the court what precipitated these crimes. We know from an independent witness that there was a loud argument in the hours before.

“They were not committed in a vacuum, and there was disgruntlement which was graphically displayed in postmortem reports.”

Judge Desai said defence lawyer Piet Botha had “simply and bluntly” raised two mitigating factors in Van Breda’s favour – his young age and the fact that he had no previous convictions. Van Breda was just 20 years old at the time, and Judge Desai said that while he lacked maturity, he was on the cusp of adulthood.

He said Van Breda had a “bright future ahead of him and a supportive family who would have assisted him with his future endeavours”.

Now, Judge Desai said, he faced long imprisonment. He said the acts had been committed with “innate cruelty”, were premeditated and were carried out with the intent to kill.

Van Breda appeared unmoved in the dock as he stood and solemnly listened as the sentence was handed down.

The defence plans to appeal both conviction and sentence, and Judge Desai will hear that application on June 27. – African News Agency (ANA)