Henri van Breda broke down on Wednesday as the court listened in silence to the chilling emergency phone call he made on the night his family was attacked and murdered.
It was a rare show of emotion from the 22-year-old‚ and came in the third week of his trial in the High Court in Cape Town.
After composing himself in the dock‚ Van Breda listened to the rest of the 25-minute phone call with his eyes closed and his hand on his forehead.
In the call‚ however‚ Van Breda was emotionless‚ calmly giving his address‚ phone number and details of the "three adults and one teenage girl who have been attacked".
He has pleaded not guilty to murdering his father Martin‚ 55‚ mother Teresa‚ 54‚ and brother Rudi‚ 22‚ with an axe at their home in De Zalze‚ Stellenbosch.
He has also denied the attempted murder of his 16-year-old sister‚ Marli‚ who survived the attack but with severe injuries. She had an axe wound to the head and her jugular was severed.
Van Breda's call to City of Cape Town emergency dispatcher Janine Philander began at 7.12am on January 27‚ 2015‚ and ended at 7.37.
In it‚ he made no reference to his own injuries and‚ when asked if he was a patient‚ he said no.
There was confusion on the part of the emergency services about where De Zalze was‚ and he described nearby landmarks such as the Eikestad shopping mall and Jamestown.
Anybody else in that situation‚ said Philander‚ would have been shouting and panicking and saying they were going to phone someone else for help because it was taking so long to locate the address.
"He offered to wait in a different street and that also threw me‚" she said. "Normally someone would demand that help comes to them at the scene immediately."
"It sounded unbelievable‚" she said‚ describing the disconnect between what he was telling her and how he was saying it.
"My sister is still moving‚" he said without a trace of emotion after saying his family members had "head injuries".
She added that people normally ask in a panic for advice. Defence counsel Piet Botha objected‚ saying it was merely "Philander's opinion".
On Tuesday‚ Philander said the call centre received around 100 calls a day. The state argues that their expertise in the "norm" is therefore reliable and accurate.
Philander told the court she had been convinced it was a prank call because Van Breda was so calm.
"He was a bit hesitant and a made a sound like a giggle and I thought it was a prank‚" she said.
"The normal reaction for a home invasion and assault of this nature is that people are frantic‚ shouting‚ screaming‚ in tears ... He wasn't anxious or agitated or any other such thing. He was just cool and calm."
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