CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 22: Murder accused Henri van Breda with his attorney Lorinda van Niekerk during day 15 of his trial at the Western Cape High Court on May 22, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. Dr Michelle van Zyl, told the court: “I saw Henri Van Breda in the evening at Vergelegen Mediclinic. He had a few 3cm scratch marks‚ a chest scratch of 6cm and another one of 8cm. None of them were bleeding and all were superficial. They did not require stitches so I just put clips on them. He was a hundred percent orientated‚ and showed no signs at all of a concussion.” Van Breda is accused of the brutal murders of his parents and brother, and the attempted murder of his sister in 2015. (Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Jaco Marais)
‘The Van Bredas fought for their lives’ Forensic expert tells court
The latest revelations from court.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 22: Murder accused Henri van Breda with his attorney Lorinda van Niekerk during day 15 of his trial at the Western Cape High Court on May 22, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. Dr Michelle van Zyl, told the court: “I saw Henri Van Breda in the evening at Vergelegen Mediclinic. He had a few 3cm scratch marks‚ a chest scratch of 6cm and another one of 8cm. None of them were bleeding and all were superficial. They did not require stitches so I just put clips on them. He was a hundred percent orientated‚ and showed no signs at all of a concussion.” Van Breda is accused of the brutal murders of his parents and brother, and the attempted murder of his sister in 2015. (Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Jaco Marais)
Forensic Pathologist Dr Daphne Anthony has told the Western Cape High Court that Marli van Breda was the fourth victim to be attacked on the night of the killings. She also suffered similar “chop wounds” to her mother, father and brother.
Marli survived the attack and has recently recovered from her physical injuries which included a brain injury, she now has retrograde amnesia and cannot remember the events of the night she was attacked.
“The issue about survival after infliction of trauma depends on various amount of factors – it depends on age, the younger survive longer, it also depends on the amount of blood loss and also if you have compensatory mechanisms. You can have severe blood loss, but the body can still be able to compensate for that.”
Dr Anthony performed the post mortems on Martin, Teresa and Rudi van Breda, she testified that all three died from “head injuries and the consequences thereof”
Anthony believes that Rudi (22) was attacked while he was lying on the bed on his right side of his face. He was attacked first and “suffered the most violent attack.”
“with the infliction of trauma to his head, he was aware of what was coming down, so raised his hand in an attempt to ward off the attack”.
Henri’s father was the second to be attacked, the court heard that he was not aware of his attacker and was hit from behind.
“Most of his injuries were on the back of his head and neck, and he had no defensive wounds.”
Anthony testified that the mother was aware of her attacker, saying she instinctively raised her right hand and acquired a defensive wound. She then “most likely fell forward on her face” and acquired the abrasions on the bridge of her nose and contusions on her left side.
The discussion over Henri’s innocence continues to rage on. The fact that his father and brother were initially unaware of their attackers will only further convince the public that he is guilty. Take into consideration the fact that Henri’s wounds were “typical of self-infliction” and things aren’t looking good for him at all…
