South Africa - Martin, 55, Theresa, 54, Rudi Van Breda, 22, Murdered, 26 Jan 2015 #5

[Fluffykins]

RSBM

For heaven's sake, it's only made him look all the more menacing! What an idiot!! :doh:

On second thoughts, maybe he thought it would be a winning move to copy the judge's hairstyle. Might help get the judge on side, you think?

 

[JudgeJudi]

Maybe he wanted to see what he'd look like with a prison haircut. :floorlaugh:

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv Botha- we have listed in para 12.19 aspects that are not in issue in relation to Marli, firstly that Marli's issues were life threatening and inflicted with the intention to kill her

Judge Desai- Adv Galloway has today, Adv Botha tomorrow and up till tea time to reply on Wednesday. Whatever time Adv Galloway needs today, we will adjourn thereafter for Adv Botha to commence

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv Galloway: Reads out the charges and summarises the states case starting with a description of the property, being in a security estate

Adv G: accused was found exiting the property, marli and her mother found on the top of the stairway rudi and martin in the boys' room

Adv G: the last person to see the family alive was the domestic worker who left that afternoon

Adv G: Marli sustained injuries and survived but the injuries were the same nature as that of the deceased family members

Adv G: Henri's injuries are likely to be self inflicted as testified by the expert pathologist

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: no drip trail which is normally formed when an attacker flees the scene

Adv G: the only real issue this court must decide is who committed these crimes, it is the states case that Henri committed the crimes

The court and the defence team have a copy of Adv G's heads of argument and as such she is reading it out and skipping over certain parts, we will get a copy of the heads after proceedings

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: dealing with security of the estate and access to the property, continuously monitored by security personnel, the house was closely surrounded by other homes

Adv G: in light of this its the state case that an attacker would have to enter and exit undetected and given the security this is highly unlikely

Adv G: no complaint or report was received that night, evidence was lead that the residents were vigilant in laying complaints and reports

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: the defence's cross examination actually highlighted the security of the estate and were unable to show that there had been any security breaches. Every vehicle and person entering and exiting was accounted for

Adv G: Condition of the house after- the undisputed evidence is that the house looked as it generally would. Not consistent with house robbery or murder

Judge Desai: that is not your strongest point, one cannot conclude what the house would look like, just saying it isnt your strongest point

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/AJGMolyneaux

After a short ‘house-keeping’ in court, we begin with state prosecutor Susan Galloway leading her closing arguments against Henri #vanbreda . We run through all evidence from start to finish.

https://twitter.com/ajnarsee

Reminder: These are the weapons found at the crime scene



Adv Piet Botha addresses Judge Siraj Desai on some housekeeping, with regards to transcribed copies of some witness statements

Botha: with regards to injuries sustained to Marli, her injuries were life threatening and her injuries Intended to kill her

J Desai a day is given to the state and a day for the defence for closing arguments

Galloway: accused faces five charges, 3 murder, 1 attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice

Galloway: all the deceased presented serious head injuries, likely inflicted by an axe. The family was last seen alive by the domestic worker

Galloway: facts not in dispute- the security system was functioning, there was no forced entry and no evidence of the family having enemies

Galloway:the only question to consider is who committed the crimes? It's the states version that the accused committed the crime and tampered with the scene

Galloway: while all evidence is circumstantial, it can be divided into two groups: the exclusion of an intruder and the accused

Galloway: takes the court through the security at the De Zalze estate. If the intruder succeeded in gaining access, they would have to move through houses undetected to get to no. 12 Goske Street

Galloway: the defence was unable to provide any real evidence of a real breach in security

Galloway: condition of the house afterwards- police says it's not consistent with house burglary or armed robbery

Galloway: the defence implied that it might be the work of "Balaclava gang", but scene was not consistent with modus operandi

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: Captain Steyn testified around modus operandi on the balaclava gang. Nothing was taken from the house, despite valuable items that were on the scene

Adv G: Weapons. The attack on deceased and Marli was done with the axe found on the scene the knife inflicting the accused's injuries was also on the scene, no evidence to date that these items came from outside the house

Common sense dictates that any person approaching a target would not do so without having a suitable weapon to attack or defend

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

Is anyone else losing the feed?

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: the injuries were violent and the attacker clearly had the intent to kill. Attacker was drawn to the attack in the boys' room

Judge Desai: what do u make of the family members all having defensive wounds but not the father? Adv G: the evidence was that it was a surprise attack as it was on the back of his head

Judge Desai: could the father have being trying to defend a family member rather than himself from the attacker? Adv G: he could have been protecting Rudi

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: the way the family members were dressed suggest that they were comfortable with the attacker and did not feel the need to cover up

Judge Desai: nobody called for help? Adv G: our inference is that the victims knew their attacker, there was no outside force that required outside help

Adv G: they got up, they were drawn to the boys room, they didnt cry for help

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/ajnarsee

Galloway: although the defense case is it was not a "hit in the family", if it was the would not have come unarmed

Galloway: the attacker had the intent to kill

J Desai: of the victims, what do you make of the fact that The mother, Marli and Rudi had defence injuries

Galloway: Martin was a surprise attack, Rudi was asleep and at the last minute defended himself

G: the fact that deceased were dressed in sleepwear and didn't call for help, indicates that they were comfortable with the attacker

J Desai: not only did the accused didn't call for help, but neither did the victims

Galloway: the inference is that the victims knew the attacker. It's not that they were surprised in their beds. They got up and were drawn to the boys room

Galloway: victims made no attempt to hide, Marli herself tried to fight back. There were enough rooms in the house. Difficult to understand why they would cluster around the incident and not get help

 

[JudgeJudi]

I feel like gagging on my dinner. I hope Desai is asking these questions in order to head off Botha asking them.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Judge Desai: they did not try to escape? Adv G: indeed our view is that they decided to cluster around the incident, Marli tried to stop the attacker

Adv G: evidence to explain why martin doesnt have defensive wounds- no evidence of how the accused did not sustain defensive wounds despite his version that he fought off and disarmed the attacker

Adv G: quite possible that martin was tending to his son not aware that the attacker was still in the room

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Adv G: Captain Steyn testified around modus operandi on the balaclava gang. Nothing was taken from the house, despite valuable items that were on the scene

Adv G: Weapons. The attack on deceased and Marli was done with the axe found on the scene the knife inflicting the accused's injuries was also on the scene, no evidence to date that these items came from outside the house

Common sense dictates that any person approaching a target would not do so without having a suitable weapon to attack or defend

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

Is anyone else losing the feed?

Everything is fine my end so far JJ.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I feel like gagging on my dinner. I hope Desai is asking these questions in order to head off Botha asking them.

When Galloway answered a question that none of victims hid in one of the many rooms, I could hear J Desai whisper, 'that's a good point.'

 

[JudgeJudi]

Judge Desai: that means martin must have seen the attacker? Adv Galloway with respect perhaps but not necessarily

My view- Desai's line of questions regarding Martin seeing the attacker may be to elicit some sort of response from Henri, of course Henri remains completely stone faced, so that did not work if it was the aim

Adv G: no prints of Sasha were found anywhere in the house despite the fact that she slept upstairs

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: if you consider that by the time the police arrived there was significant pooling of blood, it is strange in 2hr 45 min that Sasha never approached him on the stairs or any other family members but she was with him when police arrived

Adv G: also strange that Sasha did not bark Judge Desai: she barked at the domestic worker. Henri testified that Sasha was under medication at the time and this made her subdued

Adv G: It was clear that she slept all over the house as she had beds all over the house, there was a bed between Henri and Rudi's bed and one at the bottom of the stair case

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[JudgeJudi]

Adv G: on the boundary walls there were no marks or finger prints or anything that would show someone had climbed over the wall, either to get in or out

Adv G: no evidence of a vendetta against the family, in fact contrary evidence of Uncle, that Martin had no bad business relations or grudges against him

Adv G: considered James Marli's boyfriend at the time as an accused, the police investigated balaclava gang, they used description given to them by the accused to investigate an intruder

https://twitter.com/traceyams?lang=en

 

[PrimeSuspect]

https://twitter.com/ajnarsee

Galloway: the only two people with no defence wounds is Martin and the accused. Martin was surprised, but Henri took on the attacker and had no defensive wounds

Galloway: there was a lot of rage in the attack on Rudi, an emotional connection as he had the most injuries... if premeditated by an unknown person, they would not leave an eyewitness behind

Galloway: fingerprints and shoe prints all accounted for on the scene. No foreign DNA was found on the scene

Galloway: no evidence of anyone having a vendetta against the family. The accused also confirmed this

Galloway: the police maintain that the accused was not treated as a suspect in the beginning

https://twitter.com/HiRezLife

Why did the victims *cluster* towards the attacker, rather than run for their lives? Galloway says there were many rooms in the house to seek shelter.

Not sure why Botha and Combrink are laughing in the middle of Galloway's closing argument.

Sasha the dog was supposed to have free run of the house. Why were there no doggy-prints throughout the scene?

https://twitter.com/TeamNews24

Capt Joubert's evidence was that severity of attack on Rudi #VanBreda indicates an emotional connection between the attacker and person who was attacked, Adv Galloway says.

Galloway says despite significant amount of blood at the scene, no prints of someone hurriedly leaving the house, or any belonging to Sasha the dog. Sasha was sitting with Henri #VanBreda when paramedics arrived. Strange Sasha didn't bark when intruder arrived or left.

Forensic evidence - no marks or fingerprints on white boundary walls of someone climbing over it to get in or out.

Henri #VanBreda wasn't a suspect from start of investigations. Police looked into the possibility of James Reade-Jahn or balaclava gang being involved, Adv Galloway says.