South Africa - Martin, 55, Theresa, 54, Rudi van Breda, 22, murdered, 26 Jan 2015 #1

[JudgeJudi]

This is where Sasha comes in!

Or Precious.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Stuart/Stewart's in trouble.

 

[L2L]

Or Precious.

Or the dozens of others who have been in the house. If they don't say whose hair was in Mali's hand, I'm off to bed!

 

[JudgeJudi]

Botha says Stuart knew who supplied the reference sample and knew who the suspect was.

Letter to Stuart form Col Benecke of Stellenbosch SAPS on 20 March 2015:

Confirms they were investigating murder charge, long blonde hair was found in Marli's hand, and samples of Henri, Martin and Teresa were sent.

Hair samples were taken from Henri.

Col Benekce writes and says long blonde hair found in Marli's palm.

Sample taken from suspect, indicated in the letter.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...ay-11-20170515

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Anthony Molyneaux‏ @AJGMolyneaux 3m3 minutes ago @TimesLIVE

Botha puts it to colonel that he lied under oath as he did in fact know who the suspect was when doing hair tests thanks to a....report that Botha asked colonel to read from one of his colleagues. The report clearly states who the hair samples belonged to.
colonel states that he needs to be objective and should not know who the samples belong to, especially not the suspect.
but in the letter from colonel Stewart's colleague, it clearly states who the samples belonged to & who the suspect was. Colonel is denying that he did not know who the samples belonged to. Botha states: it's only going to get worse. Turns to another letter.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Stuart says he didn't go through the letter. I didn't need to. I need to be as objective as possible. I don't need to know whose hair I am working with.

Stuart now conceding that he knew who the suspect was. Says he didn't know whose hair was presented.

When I do my examination, I compare what ever they want me to compare, Stuart says.

Botha - in the letter you are told what they want you to do. You did compare the hair sample with the reference sample from Henri van Breda.

He tells you what his sample number is. So when you did you reexamination you know that the reference sample was that of Mr Van Breda.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...ay-11-20170515

 

[Interested Bystander]

LOL Botha is aiming to discredit this Stuart/Stewart fellow. It's getting dirty now.

Where have we seen this before? Sounds par for the course in SA.

I am unsure of the spelling of the officer's surname - I have seen it written as Stuart and Stewart but have chosen to correct my posts to Stewart. Does anyone know which is correct?

 

[L2L]

Where have we seen this before? Sounds par for the course in SA.

I am unsure of the spelling of the officer's surname - I have seen it written as Stuart and Stewart but have chosen to correct my posts to Stewart. Does anyone know which is correct?

Google has it as Stuart.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Botha - turn to page 7.

Letter dated April 2015 from a constable with details of incident - only hair of Marli was outstanding due to her state.

Asked that it be compared to other samples.

Why did you try to leave court under impression that you only looked at numbers, cold and clinically doing your work when it is clear you were very much aware of at least 2 of the contributors?

Stuart - Best way to answer is when I received the exhibits... I waited until I received all, at the time I had already forgotten what it said in the cover letters and references.

I work as objectively as possible. I didn't look at the docket again until I was subpoenaed.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...ay-11-20170515

[Is it not feasible that he knew one sample came from HvB and one from Marli but that all family members were identified by number only?]

 

[L2L]

Does it really matter if Stuart knew whose hair he was examining? Is he breaking some law by knowing?

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Anthony Molyneaux‏ @AJGMolyneaux 10m10 minutes ago @TimesLIVE
Colonel is now in a tight spot as he is being asked to admit that he lied on the stand earlier.
colonel says he waited on all the information to come in & he forgot what was said in the letters to him when he began his tests.
Colonel says he didn't have to go back to letters explaining what he should do. He followed his usual procedure.
Colonel says he skipped information on who the samples belonged to. He took other information in but not names of samples.

 

[Interested Bystander]

It is at times like this that I detest "clever" lawyers. This charade is an attempt to get a murderer off the hook, not just give him a good defence.

 

[JudgeJudi]

The hair found in Marli's hand was similar to that of Henri #VanBreda, Lt Col Henry Stuart found.


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...ay-11-20170515

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Does it really matter if Stuart knew whose hair he was examining? Is he breaking some law by knowing?

I'm not sure L2L, could be prejudicial knowing whose hair it belongs to. Why were these letters sent to him, it's his word now whether he read them or not. State making mistakes again.

It is at times like this that I detest "clever" lawyers. This charade is an attempt to get a murderer off the hook, not just give him a good defence.

I do too IB. HvB's team is relying on no one following protocol, making slip ups on the stand, and HvB will be treated like a little prince when he's in the box. Grrr.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Stuart had hair samples for all family members. Even if he knew the names of all of them, if the samples were simply marked 1 to 5, how would he have known who each sample belonged to? Anyone could hazard a guess, e.g. Martin had some grey hairs, Rudi's was the darkest, Marli's was blonde. That only leaves Theresa and Henri and their hair colour was quite different to one another. Photos of the family were everywhere. It wasn't a secret.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Lt Col Henry Stuart not looking very pleased.

 

[Tortoise]

The hair found in Marli's hand was similar to that of Henri #VanBreda, Lt Col Henry Stuart found.


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...ay-11-20170515

It had to have been for all the fuss they've been making today.

And the wind blew it into her clenched palm and interwove itself around her fingers, of course.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Tracey Stewart‏ @Traceyams 22m22 minutes ago
@CapeTownEtc #vanbreda


I try not to read the cover letter so that I can remain objective. Botha so u want the court to believe that you looked at the docket and skipped the cover letter to ensure you don't read anything? Don't you need to read the cover letter to know to skip it?

 

[Tortoise]

No wonder he's had a haircut today. Surprised he hasn't coloured it too.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

No wonder he's had a haircut today. Surprised he hasn't coloured it too.

Good call!