Henri van Breda: 'Laughing intruder slaughtered my family'

Hungry, freezing, tired and wearing only underpants - but all the police offered Henri van Breda was "a bottle of Coke" at the detectives' offices in Stellenbosch.

The 21-year-old claimed in an affidavit that he knew the police were out to get him for the murder of his mother, Teresa, 55, father Martin, 54, and brother Rudi, 22.

He said this was evident when, hours after a "laughing" intruder had hacked the family to death with an axe, Colonel Deon Beneke poured himself a cold-drink and said he did not believe his "bullshit" story.

• Van Breda pleads not guilty to family murderHenri van Breda has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father, mother and brother.

Van Breda pleaded not guilty in the Cape Town High Court yesterday to the murders, the attempted murder of his sister and to obstructing justice.

His advocate, Pieter Botha, read out an 18-page plea explanation in which he claimed that an axe-wielding attacker laughed as he hacked at members of the family.

• Cameras dispute unresolved as axe trial startsAxe-murder accused Henri van Breda is expected to enter a plea in the Cape Town High Court today.

Details emerged of his brother gurgling after he had been repeatedly struck with an axe.

"The attacker was laughing as he attacked my dad," Van Breda said.

First to arrive at the murder scene at the luxury home in Stellenbosch was Sergeant Adrian Kleyhans.

He told the court he saw an "emotional" and injured youngster who, at the time, seemed like the only survivor.

He tried to comfort him.

"Ek het sy koppie gevryf (I stroked his little head)," Kleynhans told the court.

"He said his family was attacked upstairs . I should check. While I was talking to him, I could smell alcohol on his breath."

Prosecutor Susan Galloway asked: "How long before then do you think he had something to drink?"

"I would say a while before. I could smell it strongly," Kleynhans replied.

He noted that Van Breda did not cry but spoke to him as if he were trying to "blow off steam".

The officer said the ground floor of the home was immaculate - except for a few cigarette butts on the kitchen floor, which he found "strange".

On the counter was an "expensive handbag" containing a wallet filled with cash, a laptop plugged into the wall socket and no sign that anyone had tried to force entry into the house or steal anything.

When he reached the top of the stairs he found the horror of what had happened - dead bodies and one person injured.

In his statement Van Breda said he disarmed the attacker with surprising ease but he then produced a knife and slashed at Van Breda's chest and arm.

Van Breda said he threw the axe he had taken from the attacker at him as he fled down the stairs but lost his footing and had a "severe" fall.

Van Breda said he checked the house after the attacker had fled and when he went back upstairs he could hear Rudi in the bedroom.

"As I moved past the middle landing of the stairs ... I saw Marli moving about on top of the landing, lying next to my mom. My mother was not moving. The last thing I recall seeing is Marli and my mom. I then lost consciousness," he said.

The last time Van Breda had seen his family alive was when he, his brother and father were watching Star Trek 2 on TV, while his mother was in the kitchen making dinner and 16-year-old Marli was in her room.

When he saw his father again he was lunging to stop an attacker from hacking his oldest son to death, an act that would prove fatal as the killer dispatched the wealthy businessman with a blow to the head.

A few hours later Van Breda was shivering in a room with the air-conditioning turned up high, giving a statement, he said, under duress.

The hearing continues today.