Triple-murder accused Henri van Breda had a beer before he went for a medical examination following the butchering of his family, his defence team said yesterday.
This came after after evidence was presented in the Western Cape High Court by Dr Michelle van Zyl, who noted in a medical report that Van Breda, then 20, smelt of alcohol, was confident, conversed casually, and appeared relaxed around staff.
Van Zyl, who worked at Vergelegen Medi-clinic where police took Van Breda for a medical examination, testified she had seen him twice on January 27, 2015 - the day of the murders.
Van Breda had first arrived at the hospital for a private consultation with James Reade-Jahn, Marli van Breda’s then boyfriend, at about 8.30pm. He then arrived again with police about an hour later.
In her report, Van Zyl noted that Van Breda had a 1.5cm laceration on his upper abdomen, which was not actively bleeding.
He also had scratches on his left forearm; long linear superficial scratch marks on his chest, which were not bleeding; a puncture wound to his left clavicle; and his eyes were bruised.
“He was fully orientated and we had a good conversation. His wounds were not deep enough for stitches, and I cleaned them and used 'clips' to join the skin. After he was released, I went on with my work and then police came and asked me to examine him,” Van Zyl said.
Van Breda’s mother, Teresa, 55, father Martin, 54, and brother Rudi, 22, were hacked to death with an axe in their multi-million rand De Zalze Estate house, while his sister, Marli, 16 at the time, survived a physical assault.
She now suffers from retrograde amnesia.
Van Breda, now 22, has been charged with their murders, his sister's attempted murder, and defeating the ends of justice, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Last week Marianne Tiemensma, a forensic pathologist at Victoria Hospital in Wynberg, was called in to comment on Van Breda's injuries.
Her report read that Van Breda’s wounds were “superficial, minor, non-fatal and are in keeping with what is consistent of self-inflicted wounds”.
As State Prosecutor Susan Galloway prepared to examine Tiemensma about the scene, Van Breda’s lawyer Pieter Botha objected, and stated he had previously said he had wanted his pathologist present during Tiemensma’s testimony.
That person is expected to be in court today as the trial continues.