Cape Town - The testimony of Sergeant Marlon Appollis was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it affair on Day 34 of the Van Breda trial where he was questioned about whether or not surviving family member Marli van Breda had made a statement.
Appollis, the investigating officer in the Van Breda trial, was expected to face heavy scrutiny while in the witness box, but he only faced roughly 45 minutes of being questioned and cross-examined on Wednesday.
Sergeant Apollis, who has 14 years of SAPS service under his belt, stated that when had arrived at the scene his first priority was Marli.
State prosecutor Susan Galloway, also questioned Appolis about whether or not Marli made a statement about the attack.
“According to my knowledge Marli never gave a statement nor does she have any recollection of that night,” he said.
Later, under cross-examination, murder-accused Henri van Breda's defence lawyer, Pieter Botha mentioned Henri’s statement which claimed Colonel Deon Beneke told the accused that he had taken a statement from Marli.
Appollis said that as far as he knew Marli had not said anything.
Galloway also questioned Appollis about whether Marli was investigated, but he stated that there had been no investigation of Marli while he had been involved in the case.
During cross-examination, the investigating officer faced questions about the testimony of Marli’s ex-boyfriend James Reede-Jahn, which had mentioned that he had seen a black axe head at the De Zalze home leading up to the murders.
Appollis said that he didn’t know about another axe, only the one that they had found on the crime scene, which had a green head.
Judge Siraj Desai, had also asked about a second axe, to which Appolis had said, other than colour, the axe matched the one on the scene.
The witness had also been questioned about cellphone records which led to the police to look into text messages between Reede-Jahn and Marli, but Appollis said the ex-boyfriend had an alibi.
Judge Desai then adjourned until Monday when the last of the state witnesses‚ blood spatter expert Captain Marius Joubert‚ is due to give evidence.
Henri stands accused of the murder of his brother, Rudi, his father Martin, and his mother Teresa. He also faces a charge of attempted murder of his sister, Marli.