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

[PrimeSuspect]

Van Breda's version continued:

8. Van Breda said he had then fallen down the stairs. The kitchen door was open and he believed there had been at least two attackers.

9. He said he wanted to call emergency services, but had no idea of the number, so called his girlfriend instead. She didn’t answer.

10. He had then found an emergency number but had failed twice to get through. When he had finally got through from the landline, he had tried to remain calm. He said he had spoken calmly in case the operator did not understand his Australian accent.

11. He had gone outside to show the ambulance service where the house was. When police officers had arrived, he had told them to go upstairs.

12. Police had taken his clothes, leaving him in his boxer shorts. His stab wounds were dressed.

13. Van Breda had told the police he thought the intruder was a black person, he said.

14. Police had told the doctor attending to him that they thought his wounds were self-inflicted. At the police station, the air conditioning had been turned up, so he had been “freezing cold”.

15. He said the police officer had told him he did not believe a word of his “******** story”.

16. Van Breda said that by the time he had signed his statement, he had been exhausted and in shock and had not been warned of his rights.

https://www.enca.com/south-africa/i...reath-first-officer-on-van-breda-murder-scene

8. Was he pushed or he fell because it sounds legit in a home invasion, someone has to fall down a flight of stairs?

9. He couldn't google to save their lives.

10. How ingenious to think of why he remained calm *cough*. SA accent is often mistaken for an Australian accent so not really clever. The operators were dreadful though but he had all the time in the world and it didn't faze him.

13. Of course. *roll eyes*

14. I hope this can be verified as not being true, sloppy police work if it is. Also, how insensitive of the police 'turning up' the air - conditioning (real or imagined)? Why didn't he ask for a blanket or for the air-con to be turned down? So the police were intolerably cruel to him, lets give him a free pass.

15. Yes, well, welcome to the real world HvB and even after that accusation he's been as free as a bird, give him a pass.

16. I hope this isn't true and can be verified.

 

[Estelle]

2. HvB gave a slight laugh when he phoned emergency, it seems he's describing his own behaviour that night.

3. I'm thinking Theresa called this out before she entered the room, she heard HvB arguing with his father?

4. IMO, self-inflicted.

5. Ok, this one should be easy to disprove.


IMO, HvB is describing the situation like he stood outside himself while he was attacking his family and he remembers it that way.
It's incredible that no drugs were found in his system, so he was fueled by pure adrenaline induced by a psychotic episode or, revenge due to a personality disorder? If HvB bought the axe earlier that day or before, this was a planned attack therefore it rules out temporary psychosis. Was he craving his drugs and resented his parents interference in obtaining them?
Is he just bad to the bone?

The policeman smelled alcohol on HvB. Maybe he was drunk and therefore waited those hours to sober up.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

The policeman smelled alcohol on HvB. Maybe he was drunk and therefore waited those hours to sober up.

Thanks Estelle, I missed that, hmmm, so he drank for dutch courage maybe?

 

[Estelle]

Henri VanBreda said that he struck the assailant with the axe but the axe was facing the wrong way!

So the assailant made a lucky escape.

 

[Estelle]

I am curious about how he is going to prove that the "assailants" were able to get into the house and get out of the secured property again.

 

[JudgeJudi]

I cannot understand how anyone, on trial for these kinds of horrific crimes, is allowed freedom, even for years . Same for OP. Why are they not held in prison to await trial? Imagine having van Breda staying with you! Hope the shed was cleared of any axes!

Indeed. It just confirms that money can buy anything, especially if you're white, privileged and live in SA. People of colour languish for years in prison awaiting trial.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

I am curious about how he is going to prove that the "assailants" were able to get into the house and get out of the secured property again.

HvB had hours to set the scene, it will be interesting if he did break a window or he'll say they left their doors unlocked.

Just re-reading one of your links, there were emergency numbers on the Van Breda's fridge! :facepalm:

 

[Estelle]

Newsbreak‏Verified account @Newsbreak_Lotus 7m7 minutes ago

The Cape Town High Court led by Judge Siraj Desai has completed an in-loco inspection at the former home of murder accused, Henri van Breda

https://twitter.com/Newsbreak_Lotus

 

[JudgeJudi]

2. HvB gave a slight laugh when he phoned emergency, it seems he's describing his own behaviour that night.

3. I'm thinking Theresa called this out before she entered the room, she heard HvB arguing with his father?

4. IMO, self-inflicted.

5. Ok, this one should be easy to disprove.


IMO, HvB is describing the situation like he stood outside himself while he was attacking his family and he remembers it that way.
It's incredible that no drugs were found in his system, so he was fueled by pure adrenaline induced by a psychotic episode or, revenge due to a personality disorder? If HvB bought the axe earlier that day or before, this was a planned attack therefore it rules out temporary psychosis. Was he craving his drugs and resented his parents interference in obtaining them?
Is he just bad to the bone?

I agree Prime. It makes it easy for Henri to remember everything if he simply substitutes an intruder for himself. Re 5, the neighbours heard loud voices coming from the house.

"The latest charge mirrors reports that Van Breda had a history of using drugs which had put him in conflict with his parents. A teenager living in a shack near the family’s luxury winelands home told South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper how he had been paid as a “drug runner” by Van Breda who was addicted to crystal meth".

http://www.news.com.au/world/africa...e/news-story/076c2ddbfd6a3396b5052df6b0ae7ed1

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Indeed. It just confirms that money can buy anything, especially if you're white, privileged and live in SA. People of colour languish for years in prison awaiting trial.

Very true, JJ.

HvB defence so far seems to be relying on the police treatment of HvB and most likely, the mishandling of evidence and the crime scene, reminiscent of Oscar Pistorius' trial.
I'm ready to be face palming all the way through this, police procedures and legal system in SA is too disturbing for words! Dewani's trial was a joke, imo.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Thanks so much Estelle. You've done a great job.

 

[JudgeJudi]

If we didn't know better, we could say it was a slam dunk for the State but ... the usual words ... TISA.

His entire story is just ludicrous in the extreme, and I can't wait for his XX. The defence, of course, will try to ruin the State's case by blaming the police, but this isn't exclusive to SA. It's just much worse in SA. The ordinary policeman is very poorly trained compared to elsewhere in the world.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Prime, do you have a feeling we'll have a lot of elevated blood pressure over the course of the trial?

 

[Estelle]

Henri's version of what happened after the police arrived:

Henri said once the first police officers arrived on the scene, he told them to go upstairs.

“Once they arrived the adrenaline and the feeling that I should be doing something to help started to dissipate and I could feel myself going into shock.”

His stab wounds were dressed by an ambulance crew.

“At some stage the police took my grey sleeping pants and white socks that I was wearing, leaving me dressed only in boxer shorts,” he said.

He was led to a police vehicle by two officers and told he was being taken for medical attention, he said.

“They enquired about the race of my attackers. I replied that I only saw one and that I think that the one I saw was black.

“I overheard them saying that Marli had been administered a drug that makes her ‘wide awake and telling us everything’. I enquired about my family members, but they refused to provide me with any details.”

At the police station, one of the officers collected a plastic bag and documents before taking him to a doctor, who filled out a J88 form which noted his injuries.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...0170424?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Estelle]

“At one point, one of the officers asked the doctor in Afrikaans if it would be possible to say if my wounds were self-inflicted. I cannot recall which one of them asked the question. The doctor replied in Afrikaans that she ‘sal sien wat ons kan doen’ [will see what they can do].”

Only in underpants

He said he was then taken to the detectives’ offices where he was “made to wait in a communal office with officers coming and going dressed only in my underpants”.

He was given cigarettes and a bottle of Coke, while an officer returned with food and drinks for the rest of them, Henri said in his plea agreement.

“They then moved me to another office, which had the air-conditioning turned down to make the room ice cold. I was visibly shivering from the cold.

“After waiting in this office with police officers around for a while, a large man arrived, whom I later learned was Colonel Beneke. [He] came in, poured himself a Coke and without introduction, told me that he ‘does not believe a word of [my] ******** story’.”

At Beneke’s request, Henri said he repeated to him what had happened a number of times and repeatedly inquired about his family but “was denied any information”.

Beneke ostensibly said that Marli was “telling them everything” and asked if his version would be the same as hers. Henri said yes.

He said he was again asked what had happened before another officer was told to take his statement and type it, saying he could leave once it was signed.

“I waited in a tiny office with a computer and printer for the officer to type up what he either had written down earlier or what he recalled from memory.

“By the time that the statement was being typed up, I was extremely exhausted due to the fact that I had not slept for a long period of time. I was also still in shock. The last time I had anything to eat was the previous evening.”

At that stage, he just “wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible”.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...0170424?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Estelle]

‘Some inaccuracies’

“Although my statement was not correct in all aspects, I did not want to sit around correcting the officers and reliving the trauma of the night before with another retelling of what had happened.

“Although the gist of what was written down is correct, the statement does contain some inaccuracies and also does not contain all of the detailed information that I conveyed to the officers.

“It also contains a number of grammatical errors, probably due to the fact that the statement is a paraphrased version by an Afrikaans speaking officer.”

He said he was at no stage told that he had the right to remain silent or to legal representation.

“Had I realised at the time that the police would be using the statement as evidence against me, I would most certainly have asked for an opportunity to consult with a legal representative.

“Although I have nothing to hide and would probably have provided them with my version I would have been able to provide a far more accurate and comprehensive version than the one obtained in the statement.”

He said he was “severely prejudiced” by police who are now “holding me to each and every word contained in a statement that was taken from me”.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...0170424?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Estelle]

Emotional

The first officer at the scene, Sergeant Adrian Kleynhans, also testified on the first day of the trial, saying Henri had been emotional, but not crying when he arrived at the scene that morning.

When he pulled up outside the Goske Street house, Henri came out through the front door in his underwear.

Kleynhans said he smelt alcohol on his breath.

The officer testified that besides the bloody axe on the stairs, the ground floor appeared fine, with valuables, such as a handbag and laptop, all in place.

The weapon was the first sign of something being wrong, Kleynhans told the court. When he ascended the stairs, he found Marli and Teresa.

He phoned for help when Marli's arm and leg moved and he realised she was still alive.

He took cellphone photos of the scene before allowing paramedics to work on Marli. While taking the photos, he saw Rudi and Martin’s bodies in the room.

The sergeant said when he walked through the family’s house, he saw the kitchen door was ajar and the windows were slightly open. There was no sign of forced entry, he said.

There was also a paper with emergency numbers stuck to the fridge, near where cigarettes butts had been killed on the kitchen floor, Kleynhans said.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/N...0170424?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Estelle]

The FOUR crucial questions HvB will have to explain.

How do you think he will answer them and what is the real answer?

1) Why did he call his girlfriend shortly after the family‚ including himself according to his version of events‚ was attacked?

2) Why did he wait nearly four hours after the attack to call emergency services for help?

3) How did blood from family members targeted in the attack find its way onto his sleeping shorts and white socks - a key piece of evidence acquired by the state?

4) Why were a kitchen knife and the axe allegedly used in the attack found on the premises?

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/article1426660.ece

 

[Estelle]

Does the State have a strong case?

“Does the state have a strong case‚” asked a reporter? “We believe we do. There is a strong case for him to answer. It’s backed up by some evidence that we have but we will still have to go to court and prove that case beyond any reasonable doubt‚” said Ntabazalila.

Ntabazalila said the lengthy probe was handled through a programme called “prosecutor guided investigations” which ensured that all the T’s were crossed and the I’s were dotted so that there was a good chance of a successful prosecution.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/article1426660.ece

 

[Estelle]

I thought this was interesting concerning today's visit to the scene of the crime:

At one point, Van Breda – dressed in a dark blue suit – filmed on his mobile phone as his solicitor, Lorinda Van Niekerk, scaled the home's side gate and scaled a 7ft high wall to demonstrate how intruders arrived and fled on the night of the grisly killing.

The Western Cape High Court on Monday heard how police found no sign of forced entry or valuables missing when Van Breda raised the alarm, more than four hours after witnessing the horrific slaying of his loved ones.

The double storey property, on a closely guarded and pristine De Zalze security estate in the winelands outside Cape Town, was eerily quiet as the extraordinary 'in loco' court convened.

The new owners of 12 Goske Road, which was sold for less than half its market value in recent months, stayed away as Judge Siraj Desai arrived in a convoy of vehicles, led by police vehicles with flashing blue lights.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...can-home-son-killed-family.html#ixzz4fGUKzReH