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

[PrimeSuspect]

:seeya:

hi everyone, popping in to read but not really the time at the mo for posting.

This one's a no brainer to me - what would you do if you were mum or sister, woke up and thought there were attackers in the house, walk round and bravely intervene?

No unidentified bloody footprints, trail away from the house, or bloody hand prints on the exits = Henri.

I expect he would say he was unconscious the whole time if there weren't phone records to his girlfriend showing he was conscious.

I hope common sense prevails, not expecting it though. Bleeding SA eh, all the usual court breaks and delays.

Thanks for the updates Prime and JJ. Hopefully I'll get more involved when time allows.

Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if this trial goes for the record!

Good to see you tortoise! It's great seeing all the familiar names again from the OP trial, popping in! Hello to everyone, posting or lurking, this is going to be shocker once it's back to HvB and his testimony! Lets hope the state is up to the task because Botha and Combrink are on the ball and anything goes!

 

[tlorik]

I'm at work and groaned out lout when Wynngard said he didn't check the 1:37 alarm! Aaaack! Henri's whole story drives me crazy - from him being in the bathroom and not getting the nerve, I suppose, to intervene in the attack until nearly everyone in the house was dead or injured. There is time involved in swinging an axe four to five times per individual. What murderer would kill 3 people, nearly kill the fourth and then leave the 5th alive after an ineffectual scuffle? Why did Henri suddenly lose consciousness? I can see an adrenaline rush, but to stay blacked out for an hour and a half? Regarding alcohol on his breath, how long was it between the time the officer said he smelled it and Henri was actually checked? If there were 2 to 3 attackers, where was everyone? Mom was in the kitchen originally - per HvB - but ended up on the stair landing. If there were multiple attackers, why wasn't she intercepted in the kitchen? If the attackers had time to stand around and smoke in the kitchen, they had time to kill HvB and finish killing Marli. 2-3 attackers managed to get into the estate, undetected supposedly, and escape again as well, undetected supposedly. But when HvB called emergency services, he says "a guy" with an axe. Such a lot of nonsense. And everytime the defence asks if something's possible, I want to yell "Aliens and elephants are possible! But not probable!!" :gaah:

 

[ApplesInMyBra]

Hi, everyone!
Just a quick post to say thank you Prime and JJ for all the updates. I just got caught up on this case, and it is absolutely baffling.

Can someone tell me if there is audio from the courtroom available? Also, I can't seem to find any information about why this **** show isn't being broadcast live on video?

Thanks again,
Apples.

 

[Interested Bystander]

Hi Tortoise and Apples. Good to see you here. I have only recently caught up. Early days yet but it looks as though the Defence will be tying the witnesses in knots. I hope this is not going to be another miscarriage of justice.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Hi Apples, nice to see you again. I’ve lost the ability to Reply With Quote, but In response to your post above, there is no audio or live streaming at present. Media24 applied to Judge Desai for the right to live stream and this was granted with strict conditions. He said that portions of video could be used but no exhibits would be allowed to be recorded or photographed. Importantly, the media would not be allowed to photograph or record HvB’s sister Marli without prior consent.

However, both the Defence, and strangely, also the State, opposed this on the grounds that it could alter witness testimony or intimidate witnesses while they testify. They argued that experts could suffer reputational damage if the public tore their performances to shreds.

The judge stuck to his guns so the Defence then said they would be going to the ConCourt and the SCA. For some inexplicable reason the application for leave to appeal this decision went to the ConCourt first and leave was denied. Even more strangely, but this is SA, the parties then went to the SCA where leave was granted. The matter has been heard and we’re now awaiting the judgment.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Hi Tortoise and Apples. Good to see you here. I have only recently caught up. Early days yet but it looks as though the Defence will be tying the witnesses in knots. I hope this is not going to be another miscarriage of justice.

I hope not too IB, it's a bad sign it took 1 1/2 yrs to bring him in and he automatically got bail.

I find it troubling that Martin, Theresa and Rudi haven't got family fighting in their corner. They may be private people? It's hushed up, they're dead, lets move on. :cry:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...police-brutal-axe-murder-parents-brother.html

Notice the difference in height and body size. HvB is at least 3-5 cms taller than Rudi and has a much larger frame.

 

[Gecko100]

Did I hear one of the witnesses say they walked the perimeter with a bloodhound? The intruder/s got in somehow, but how did they get out? There was a massive amount of blood from 3 people hit with an axe there had to have been a blood trail and the intruder covered in it. If a bloodhound was anywhere around surely it would have alerted, there must have been bloody footsteps of them exiting the house. But we know there was no intruder...
Thanks to those keeping up with the twitters for us.

 

[Interested Bystander]

I hope not too IB, it's a bad sign it took 1 1/2 yrs to bring him in and he automatically got bail.

I find it troubling that Martin, Theresa and Rudi haven't got family fighting in their corner. They may be private people? It's hushed up, they're dead, lets move on. :cry:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...police-brutal-axe-murder-parents-brother.html

Notice the difference in height and body size. HvB is at least 3-5 cms taller than Rudi and has a much larger frame.

I see what you mean. Henri is a bigger frame altogether. He also seems to have put on a lot of weight since that photo.

I agree with your view that Martin’s family seems not to have any visible or audible support. As you say, it seems a “move on” situation. I have wondered if there has been a family rift somewhere along the line that has been kept very quiet? Do we have a list of witnesses for this case? It might throw some light on the subject.

 

[Interested Bystander]

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...witnesses-in-van-breda-murder-matter-20160909

It looks as though there are 141 possible Prosecution witnesses

 

[JudgeJudi]

This is a far superior version than the one I saw previously.

Full length plea hearing

[video=youtube;Yuah3fYrcwU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuah3fYrcwU[/video]

 

[JudgeJudi]

HvB used his left hand to turn every page.

 

[Estelle]

I have found some snippets that you could find interesting and I am wondering about the family connections and who is related to whom.

Only Henri's uncle has been in court to support him. What about the other family members?

Henri's uncle's name is Andre du Toit aged 59yo so possibly 60yo now and born in 1957. He is the maternal uncle so he is the brother of Henri's mother, Teresa and are the guardians of Marli and Henri. It appears that he is married to Sonja du Toit. Sonja was Teresa's best friend at university. Henri moved out to a guest house when Marli moved in as the police were not comfortable with them staying together. .

Teresa had a sister too, whose name is Narita du Toit (54). It also appears that she had two brothers whose names have appeared in the media and are Francois (59) and Heinrich du Toit (61). Two other siblings are Wessie (66) and Leenka (63).

"Since the murders, the whole family has become closer and stronger as a family", Narita said. "The part of Marli's brain which controls emotions was damaged but the analytical part of her brain escaped injury", Narita said. "She has recovered 95 per cent. Marli has even taken to wearing her mum's clothes."

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/you-south-africa/20150827/283046938218654

Actually, Teresa seems to have had four brothers and three sisters, as well as her mum, Rika (91) who lives in a retirement home in Kempton Park and Martin's twin brothers. Henri had gone for a brain scan but it was only a spot on his brain.

"Friends spoke of how Henri kept to himself so much that even those close to him battled to speak to him. When asked about the murders he apparently sounded confused and talks in riddles. “He talks about ‘the man’. There is always ‘the man’.”

http://www.you.co.za/news/one-year-later-we-look-back-on-the-de-zalze-axe-murder/

16 April "According to a family friend, Henri had left his guardians Sonja and Andre du Toit’s home about two weeks earlier because of the enormous media scrutiny. The 20-year-old had reportedly moved to a guest house about 2 km from his guardians’ house. According to a source the owners of the guesthouse did not recognise him, and the young man told them his parents live in Australia and he was just visiting Cape Town. He apparently regularly bought red wine and whiskey and spent time drinking alone in his room."

http://www.you.co.za/news/one-year-later-we-look-back-on-the-de-zalze-axe-murder/

This article states that Marli lives with family friends in Somerset West while Henri lives with his uncle Andre du Toit.

http://www.you.co.za/news/marli-breaks-her-silence/

I have found these snippets about the family:

Authorities have kept the brother and sister apart since the murders — with the exception of one supervised reunion — and Henri has been staying with a family friend while Marli is cared for by her aunt and uncle.

Relatives have reportedly hired a member of the legal team who represented British businessman Shrien Dewani, who was dramatically cleared of murdering his bride Anni on their honeymoon in Capetown in 2010.

Marli posted a photograph of her parents and another of brother Rudi on Instagram after she was discharged from hospital but none of Henri.

Henri’s aunt Narita du Toit, who is the sister of his mother Theresa, told South African weekly You that her nephew was a “lovely child” who would never do anything to hurt his family.
Ms Du Toit told the magazine that it was possible to tell when “a child has done something wrong” but with Henri “there was nothing (wrong)”.

There has been much speculation that the family is receiving preferential treatment due to its extreme wealth, and accusations of bribery and corruption.

There have also been reports that crucial evidence and/or documents relating to the case were stolen during a break in late last year.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...n/news-story/339402e4156edac3def930fe41800bed

 

[Interested Bystander]

Thank you Estelle. That is a lot of background information about which I knew only a little. It does sound as though Henri was a bit of a loner but not thought to be involved with the murders by his aunt on his mother's side who seems to think he was a lovely boy.

I watched the video that JJ posted of his plea and was interested to note that if one watches HVB during the critical description of the killings he appeared to be breathing shallowly and at a faster rate (see around 9 minutes 30 seconds and moreso at around 10 minutes 50 seconds) which often indicates a high level of anxiety. Estelle, I know you are interested in psychology - did you pick up on any change in his breathing at this point? Maybe I am reading something into nothing. I watched the video on You Tube and enlarged the picture to full screen which makes it more obvious than watching on the small screen.

 

[Interested Bystander]

HvB used his left hand to turn every page.

Interesting so I did an experiment! I stapled a number of sheets of paper together and turned the pages without giving it any thought. I am right-handed BUT I turned the page with my left hand!! Somehow it seemed automatic and easier. Maybe we soon will find out in which hand he held the axe.

 

[ApplesInMyBra]

I watched the entire plea explanation that JJ posted (thanks!) and it struck me that when he describes "the intruder", you can simply replace the intruder with "Henry", himself. Like in the movie Fight club, there is a Narrator, and an actor/character, but they are both the same person. One blacks out while the other one takes over.
My opinion only!!!

 

[Estelle]

Thank you Estelle. That is a lot of background information about which I knew only a little. It does sound as though Henri was a bit of a loner but not thought to be involved with the murders by his aunt on his mother's side who seems to think he was a lovely boy.

I watched the video that JJ posted of his plea and was interested to note that if one watches HVB during the critical description of the killings he appeared to be breathing shallowly and at a faster rate (see around 9 minutes 30 seconds and more so at around 10 minutes 50 seconds) which often indicates a high level of anxiety. Estelle, I know you are interested in psychology - did you pick up on any change in his breathing at this point? Maybe I am reading something into nothing. I watched the video on You Tube and enlarged the picture to full screen which makes it more obvious than watching on the small screen.

Hi IB, I agree with your observation that Henri is shallow breathing when the attacks are described. He looks so uncomfortable, nervous and is possibly anxious too, as you said. Just looking at him, he presents to me as if he has a very dark side which he can cover up when he meets others and can look and act innocent to them. He seems to have fooled his mother's side of the family at least - from what his aunt said in the You article. My guess is that his parents have never spoken ill of him as they either lived in Australia and could cover up Henri's behaviour to the family as they rarely saw him in his teenage years. They might have been ashamed of him too. But they only spoke in positive terms about their children to others including the extended family so Teresa's family would probably not have any idea of what Henri was really like when they were not around as Henri would act like a "lovely boy" in front of them all so they believed everything that Teresa had told them about him over the years.

I have been wondering why Henri killed Rudi first? Most media reports claim that Henri was angry that his parents had cut down his allowance. I guess he predicted that if he killed his parents first that Rudi might overpower him and kill Henri so he chose his victims in order of their strength. I would also predict that Rudi was the favourite being the eldest, successful in his studies and sport so my guess is that Henri was jealous of Rudi.

From my post above, Marli was also a favourite being the youngest and only girl and a loyal daughter as she has posted pictures on Instagram of her family since and excluded Henri. It looks as if she moved out of Andre and Sonja's house to live with friends and it could well be that she thinks that Henri is guilty and could not tolerate being around Andre who thinks Henri is innocent. I am looking forward to her testimony especially if her aunt is correct when she said that Marli's analytical part of her brain was not damaged. I wonder if her memory has come back now. Let's hope so. But I am sure she will have some interesting things to say about family dynamics and Henri's history at least.

 

[Estelle]

In addition to my post above, I think that Henri was suffering from the Middle Child Syndrome - hence his need for drugs.

What are the characteristics? Some of the most common characteristics include low self-esteem, jealousy, feelings of emptiness or inadequacy, unfriendliness, and a tendency to be introverted.

Middle children tend to feel that they are unseen, so they may suffer from low self-esteem. Even if they are capable of doing something, they may constantly ask for your help in order to get your attention. That old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease," tends to be something that middle children live by. They tend to beat themselves up over the tiniest of failures and do not set goals for themselves. They feel unimportant, unseen, and unheard; this leaves them wondering where they belong in the grand scheme of things.

For some reason, if you look at most families, one parent tends to bond with the oldest child while the other tends to form a bond with the youngest. The middle child takes notice of this and feels unloved. This leads to their feelings of inadequacy and that empty feeling that many of us often experience. Jealousy also comes into play here because they resent everything that the other children do.

In extreme cases, middle children even act out with what some would call "psychotic" behavior. All of that jealousy and resentment just piles up inside of them until they just lash out in anger or violence.

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15912/1/Middle-Child-Syndrome.html

To top this off, Henri's father was a very successful businessman and Teresa worked for him. They seemed to focus on money and were probably workaholics, moving about all the time (which is unsettling for children) and probably did not give Henri (at least) the quality time and love that he yearned for so he possibly grew to hate them.

Henri probably took to drugs to ease his pain and, at least, to get negative attention from them which was better than no attention in his mind. Like many wealthy parents, maybe the parents threw money at him to compensate for the lack of quality time and in so doing, by default, financed his drug habit. Perhaps, they realised their error finally and cut his allowance which made Henri more angry.

Looking at Henri in that court, I do not think he is capable of love otherwise he would have been crying when the crimes were described by Botha if the intruder/s really were the perpetrators of these crimes. Instead, he is probably proud of himself being able to commit the crimes so he can inherit half of his parents' estate and thinks he will get away with them with Botha representing him.

 

[Estelle]

Who was the father? Martin van Breda, 54, was a successful businessman with directorships in at least 25 companies.

He had a number of interests in the education and property sector and owned the Australian subsidiary of international property group Engel & Völkers.

The Van Bredas lived in Perth for a number of years before moving back to SA in 2014.

His Australian business associate, Paul Freney, told Sunshine Coast Daily that Martin was "a very well-liked man".

Van Breda reportedly founded Netstar which he then sold to Altech, and developed Woodhill College, a private school in Pretoria, before JSE-listed Curro Holdings bought it from him for R185m in 2011.

Other business interests included directorships of investment, property and education companies, including Edugro Holdings and Meridian colleges in Polokwane, Pretoria, and Rustenburg.
He was a director of an education fund, and of Smartscan, which provides machine-guarding and safety products.

Van Breda previously held directorships of Waterkloof Security Village, Meridian College, Woodhill College, and Woodhill College Property Listings.

A family friend told News24 Martin was quiet and calm.

According to media reports, Martin and his son Rudi's bodies were found in a bedroom of their De Zalze home.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/all-you-need-to-know-van-breda-profiles-20170326

 

[Estelle]

Who was the mother? Teresa van Breda was 55 at the time of her murder.

Described in an Instagram post by her daughter Marli as a "lovely woman", she studied computer science at Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) and previously worked at IBM, according to her Facebook profile. She was from Johannesburg, and lived in Perth and Stellenbosch.

Teresa's body was found alongside a severely injured Marli on a balcony of the family's home.

Her husband's Australian business associate Karl Rademeyer told Sunshine Coast Daily he had on a few occasions joined the Van Bredas for dinner while they lived Down Under.

He described them as a close and "lovely family" and that their children were "awesome" and respectful.

Another of Martin's Australian business associates, Paul Freney, told the publication that Teresa was a "lovely lady, a practising Christian".

Teresa's sister Narita du Toit told YOU magazine that she did not believe that Henri was behind the murders.

A close friend of the family told News24 that Teresa had been excited to be going to Italy, where she would have taken part in a cooking course.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/all-you-need-to-know-van-breda-profiles-20170326

 

[Estelle]

Who was the brother? Rudi van Breda, 22, was studying towards his Master's degree in engineering at the University of Melbourne.

After the murders, the university said it was "greatly saddened" by his death.

He attended Trinity College until 2011 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2013.

"A Dean's honours list member for Science in 2011, Rudi was a keen sportsman and was highly regarded amongst his peers as a good-natured and friendly person, someone who was always willing to lend a hand and help out younger students," the university said in a statement.

On his Facebook account, which has since been renamed "Remembering Rudi van Breda", friends described him as warm, kind and a "unique person".

In an Instagram post after their murders, Marli posted a photo of her father and oldest brother, captioning it "the people I love the most".

His school friend, Sam Fearon, wrote a song about his death.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/all-you-need-to-know-van-breda-profiles-20170326