Van Breda tampered with crime scene, State alleges in indictment

14 June 2016

Cape Town - Henri van Breda allegedly tampered with the crime scene, inflicted injuries on himself and supplied false information to the police after murdering his parents and brother and attempting to kill his teenage sister, the State alleges.

The National Prosecuting Authority on Tuesday said it had a strong case against the student, backed up by evidence to prove that the then 20-year-old was behind the brutal murder of three of his family members, and the attempted murder of his sister Marli.

According to the indictment handed to the court when the 21-year-old appeared in the Stellenbosch Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, raised voices were heard coming from the Van Breda home in Goske Street, De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate, on Monday, January 26, 2015 - the night before the triple murder.

The family’s home was at the centre of the exclusive estate which boasts high security systems and 24-hour monitoring.

The indictment reads that at 4:24 on Tuesday, January 27, Van Breda made a cellphone call to his girlfriend, which went unanswered.

No signs of forced entry

Three minutes later he apparently did a Google search for emergency numbers.

He phoned emergency services at 07:12.

When police arrived at the scene, Martin van Breda, his wife Teresa and son Rudi were declared dead at the scene.

Marli was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, which led to extensive surgery from which she had recovered, the document states.

The home showed no signs of forced entry and no property was missing.

The security company also did not detect any intruders at the estate.

According to the post mortem, Van Breda’s parents and brother died of head injuries.

An axe, which the State believes was most likely used in the attacks, was recovered from the scene.

A kitchen knife, part of a set, was also recovered.

Van Breda was found at the house, dressed in sleeping shorts and white socks. The indictment states that DNA analysis of blood found on Van Breda and on his clothing, matches the DNA of his dead family members.

Released on R100 000 bail

Van Breda’s wounds, however, were superficial and included knife wounds, the State said. It said it has expert medical opinion that the wounds were self-inflicted.

Van Breda was released on R100 000 bail on Tuesday, a day after his arrest.

NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said it had taken a long time to charge Van Breda, as there were aspects that the prosecution wanted the investigating team to clear up.

This led to a to-and-fro of the docket, he explained.

"It took some time. Some people might not have been happy and may have been concerned by that, but during that period we kept the family abreast of developments," he said.

"The same people who would have been concerned are the same people who would have been very unhappy with us if we did a shoddy investigation which resulted in the case being kicked out of court."

Through prosecutor-guided investigations, the NPA needed to confirm that "all the t's were crossed and all the i's were dotted" to ensure that when the case went to court the State would be able to argue strongly to secure a conviction and a good sentence, Ntabazalila said.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.