Van Breda trial: Chilling photos tell of frenzied, gory spree

A fat lever-arch file sits in courtroom 1 at the High Court in Cape Town, its pages filled with photographs so gruesome they are hard to stomach.

But this week, as forensic pathologists described the wounds on all five Van Breda family members - two living, three dead - it was the humanity behind those cold pages that emerged.

From the "neatly drawn lines" on Henri's chest to the "chop wound" in brother Rudi's head, this week the axe-murder trial was about a few frenzied moments that changed everything for a mom, a dad, and the three children they were raising.

Whether in shame or anger, Henri - who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his parents and brother and attempting to murder his sister - wept at the back of the court as Dr Daphne Anthony, who did the postmortem examinations of Martin, Teresa and Rudi van Breda, described what she found.

Rudi was the family's golden boy. He was a keen sportsman and excellent academic, working towards a master's degree in engineering. Posts on Facebook speak of a "brilliant sense of humour" and an ability to make "everyone feel included in a social situation".

Now, reduced by murder to "Exhibit L" in a file, only his body and the attacker can explain how his life ended. A little fingernail loosened from the skin of a sliced hand showed he "was aware of what was coming down and raised his hand in an attempt to fend it off", said Anthony. "He tried to protect his vital organs, in this case his head and his face."

The next family member likely attacked was Martin, a dad with a soft face. Did he rush in to help his eldest son after the assailant pounced? A half-moon-shaped wound on his back and chop wounds on the back of his head map out what Anthony believes to be a "surprise attack from behind".

She said: "There were no signs of defensive wounds."

Under cross-examination, she conceded that the defence's theory of him rugby-tackling the assailant could not be ruled out. But either way, his body told the pathologist that he, like Rudi, did not die immediately but lay fighting for his life.

Next came the mother. Teresa studied computer science but her children and extended family were the focus of her life. The family returned from Perth not only because of Martin's business interests but because, according to testimony, "Teresa had pined for her family and longed to be back home in South Africa".

Anthony said she had probably rushed from her room on hearing a commotion. It is not known whether she saw her wounded husband and son , but Anthony described in heart-wrenching detail the abrasions on her nose and the bruises around her hip, which suggested she had fallen before being struck by the axe.

Before that, she had probably "faced her attacker", said Anthony, "and had raised her arm - palm outwards - trying to protect her face".

When the paramedics found her, she was in her nightwear just outside Rudi and Henri's room. "There were several loose bone skull fragments and brain tissue visible," said Anthony.

The case continues.

Experts say cuts speak volumes

Marli van Breda's retrograde amnesia might prevent her from testifying, but her hands tell a story.

Forensic pathologist Dr Daphne Anthony told the High Court in Cape Town this week that Marli, 16 at the time of the attack in 2015, put up a fierce fight and had the marks on her hands to prove it.

Anthony said the young woman had fought hard to "save her life".

Earlier in the week, another expert asked, in relation to accused Henri van Breda's own cuts and scratches: "Why would you stand dead still and allow someone to draw such neat lines across your chest?"

Clinical forensic expert Dr Marianne Tiemensma testified that his wounds were self-inflicted, and said the cuts on his arm were "superficial, parallel, equal in depth, uniform, regular, and show no movement taking place during an attack".

Defence counsel Piet Botha argued that Van Breda was holding his alleged attacker's wrist, causing him to inflict shallow, parallel cuts using flicks with the tip of a knife. Tiemensma would not back down.

Dr Jacobus Dempers, also a forensic expert, testified in turn: "His wounds conform almost exactly to the descriptions in the literature of self-inflicted wounds."

farbert@sundaytimes.co.za