Van Breda wounds too uniform for life and death fight - doc

Triple murder accused Henri Van Breda at the Western Cape High Court. Picture: Noor Slamdien

Triple murder accused Henri Van Breda at the Western Cape High Court. Picture: Noor Slamdien

Published May 23, 2017

Share

Cape Town – An expert in forensic pathology and clinical forensics has told the Western Cape High Court that there was a "strong contrast" in the wounds sustained by Henri van Breda and the rest of his family.

Dr Marianne Tiemensa testified on Tuesday that the Van Breda family members had had extensive "chop wounds", while Henri's were very minor and just broke the skin, except for one that was slightly deeper.

She said his wounds were not inflicted with the same intent and force, and he had no defensive injuries.

The 22-year-old Henri van Breda has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice. He claims his father, mother and older brother were murdered by a laughing, axe-wielding intruder at the family's upmarket home on the De Zalze security estate in Stellenbosch on January 27, 2015.

His sister, Marli, who was 16 years old at the time, survived the attack.

The State alleges that Henri committed the killings and that his wounds were self-inficted in a bid to make it look like he too was a victim.

Last week, Dr Tiemensa told the court: "The wounds are superficial‚ regular‚ equal in depth‚ parallel‚ and in areas reachable to the person."

She again reiterated her findings. "The incisions were regular and equal in depth. There is no movement in the wounds, they are parallel. They have similar appearance. Those are typical wounds of self-infliction."

She said his plea explanation did not fit in with the wounds he sustained.

Van Breda claims that the intruder fought with him in the bedroom he was sharing with his brother. He said they had pushed and pulled each other at the foot of the bed.

But Dr Tiemensa said the confrontation, "a matter of life and death", would have made it "very difficult to execute the very uniform, very similar wounds".

She said the angle of the wounds would have been different.

Van Breda also claims that he only contacted emergency services several hours after the attack, as he had been unconscious for several hours. When he was later examined by a doctor, he had shown no signs of concussion.

Dr Tiemensa said he would have had to lose 900ml to a litre of blood to lose consciousness. A concussion would have only caused a loss of consciousness for a couple of seconds, a minute at most.

She further testified that if he had lost consciousness from an emotional shock, it also would not have lasted for more than a minute.

His wounds had been sustained by "a stabbing action rather than a slicing action", and looked like they had been inflicted by a knife. They were also on his arms and chest, and were not in sensitive areas, such as the nipples.

"When injuries are being inflicted on you, you expect a person to draw away from the pain. You expect the next wound to be in a different place and at a different angle. These are completely horizontal and parallel. Unless it was a person who was tortured, it is very unlikely."

African News Agency

Related Topics: