Cape Town - The focus of the world’s media will once again be trained on our country’s courts as yet another sensational murder trial gets under way.
Murder accused Henri van Breda, 22, accused of killing both his parents and his older brother in January 2015, will stand trial in the Western Cape High Court for the gruesome attacks which took place at the family’s luxury De Zalze golf estate in Stellenbosch.
His younger sister Marli, who was critically wounded in the attack, but survived, is touted as one of the prosecution’s lead witnesses.
Van Breda and his dead brother Rudi were former students at Australia’s prestigious Scotch College, before the family’s return to South Africa in 2014.
The bloodied bodies of his millionaire father Martin van Breda, his mother Teresa and brother Rudi, were discovered in the upmarket estate on the night of January 2015, hours after neighbours allegedly heard raised voices in the house.
The three had been hacked to death with an axe.
If found guilty of the murders, Van Breda would not benefit from any inheritance, criminal law attorney William Booth said on Sunday.
Van Breda handed himself over to police in June last year, nearly a year-and-a-half since the murders.
Police confirmed he had been charged with three counts of premeditated murder, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The latter charge stems from allegations that he fed police false information.
Judge Siraj Desai, who will be presiding over the matter, is today first expected to rule on whether the trial would be broadcast live after an application from several journalists and media organisations on Friday.
Before his arrest, Van Breda first told police that his family was attacked by an axe-wielding intruder and claimed to have been a victim as well.
He is currently out on R100 000 bail.
Marli reportedly had her neck slashed during the attack but is understood to have recovered and has returned to school. Her testimony and those of other witnesses are expected to be key in the case against her brother.
In September last year, Van Breda was arrested relating to the separate charge of alleged drug possession. He and his girlfriend are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on April 11. He is out on R1 000 bail for this charge.