Pig experiment shows Henri is telling porkies‚ according to forensic expert

24 May 2017 - 16:23 By Tanya Farber
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Henri van Breda at the High Court in Cape Town on 17 May 2017.
Henri van Breda at the High Court in Cape Town on 17 May 2017.
Image: ESA ALEXANDER

"The accused's wounds conform almost exactly to what the literature describes for self-inflicted words ... I find it extremely hard to believe an assailant tried to cause grievous bodily harm to Henri van Breda‚ and that‚ if he did‚ he didn't flinch when it happened."

These are the words of Professor Jacobus Johannes Dempers‚ a forensic pathologist testifying for the state in the Van Breda triple axe murder trial in the high court in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Before speaking of Van Breda's own wounds‚ he provided poignant detail of how Van Breda's mother Teresa and brother Rudi had maybe tried to fend off their attacker with their hands before being hit in the head with an axe.

"The deceased all had similar wounds - lacerations and skull injuries‚ and incised injuries. Rudi van Breda and Teresa van Breda also had what could have been defensive wounds on their thumbs as they had tried to shield themselves against their attacker‚" he said.

In contrast‚ Van Breda had no defensive wounds.

Self-inflicted wounds done for motives of gain are "not common" said Dempers‚ "but are well-described in the literature".

  • Van Breda's legal team pushes to have his statement ruled inadmissibleOver two years ago‚ triple axe murder accused Henri van Breda gave a statement to the police after his family had been axed to death. 

He said the literature went into detail of "parallel superficial incisions‚ grouped together‚ on the non-dominant side usually the left as most people are right-handed".

They are also typically done in areas that are less sensitive‚ and it is clear the person stood still while they were done.

When asked by defence counsel Piet Botha if it was at all "possible" the wounds were not self-inflicted‚ he said that scientists are reluctant to exclude something flat-out‚ but that a good comparison would be this: "If you ask if someone could have survived a stab to the heart‚ I might say‚ 'yes‚ he could have‚ but only if he was attacked right outside the operating theatre and there was a surgeon right there ready to operate on him."

He also detailed how the conclusions drawn by himself and other forensic pathologists are not just based on the wounds themselves.

  • Forensic expert stands firm in court row over Van Breda's 'self-inflicted' woundsDid Henri van Breda lose consciousness and lie bleeding on the stairwell after his family was killed? 

"We look at three aspects‚" he explained‚ "the wounds themselves‚ the background of what was said to have happened‚ and injuries of other victims in the same crime."

He later said he found it "incredibly hard to believe" that the alleged stabbing took place with "both of them holding onto the knife" as detailed in Van Breda's plea statement‚ and added that both of them would have had to be standing dead still at the time to produce wounds of that nature.

He also said it was not possible that the knife - weighing 50g - had stayed in Van Breda's flesh and that Van Breda had to pull it out of himself (as alleged in the plea statement).

Under cross-examination‚ he detailed a further experiment he had done out of curiosity by using the flesh of a pig as pigs' flesh is most similar to that of human beings.

  • Van Breda murder trial – what we know so farOn the morning of January 27‚ 2015‚ news broke of a gruesome triple axe murder at one of the country’s most opulent security estates near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.  

With the flesh being held dead still‚ the knife could stay in for a maximum of 3 seconds‚ but with any movement‚ it would fall straight out‚ he said.

His testimony came a day after a gruelling all-day session in court during which another forensic pathologist‚ Dr Marianne Tiemensma‚ also described how the cuts and scratches on Van Breda's body were most likely "self inflicted".

-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

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