Defence calls psychologist to explain Van Breda's reaction to axe attacks

Why would someone not help family members who have been brutally attacked with an axe? This is a question a psychologist will answer early next week in the Henri van Breda triple axe murder trial.

This is a question a psychologist will answer early next week in the Henri van Breda triple axe murder trial.

Van Breda stands accused of murdering his brother‚ Rudi‚ and parents Martin and Teresa‚ and leaving his sister Marli for dead in January 2015.

On Monday‚ Van Breda told the High Court in Cape Town that he sat chain-smoking in the kitchen while waiting for emergency services to see to his family members‚ two of whom he claimed were still alive at the time.

Likewise‚ he had not attempted to help family members allegedly “under attack” by an intruder in a balaclava.

This seemed to raise alarm bells for Judge Siraj Desai and state prosecutor Susan Galloway. But‚ according to his defence counsel‚ a psychologist will take the stand to give evidence that there is no “typical” way of responding to being in a house where people have been savagely attacked.

The report‚ says advocate Piet Botha‚ will be given to the state‚ whereafter the psychologist will take to the witness stand.

Desai said on Tuesday he was not convinced this could enrich the understanding of the case but said he would reserve judgement on its validity until after the testimony.

The other burning question is: did Martin van Breda work on his laptop or not after supper but before the alleged viewing of Star Trek 2 by the men in the family?

On Tuesday‚ Botha referred to a photograph which bolstered Van Breda’s claim that his dad worked on his laptop after supper on the fateful night.

Last week‚ Van Breda came under criticism from the state for introducing this as new evidence. According to Galloway‚ this tailoring of evidence was to “make [your] timeline work”.

In his plea statement‚ Van Breda said he‚ Rudi and their father watched the movie around 8pm.

Earlier in the case‚ a neighbour said she had heard an aggressive fight at 12 Goske Street‚ De Zalze‚ at 10pm. The defence argued it was the soundtrack of Star Trek 2 and not a fight.

Galloway then said that Van Breda only introduced evidence of Martin working on his laptop after supper to “make the timeline work” so that the sounds the neighbour heard happened during the movie.

On Tuesday‚ Botha said two photographs of the dining-room table after the attack showed “a laptop and certain open documents lying there”‚ and said those could easily have been left there by Martin.

Earlier‚ when Botha re-examined Van Breda‚ he asked him if the alleged attacker “had left the axe and knife behind voluntarily”. But this‚ said Galloway‚ “was both leading and speculative”.

Botha also asked questions to bolster Van Breda’s claims of a gloved attacker killing three family members then fleeing after a scuffle with Van Breda himself.

The lawyer asked who had had a “better grip on the handle of the axe” between Van Breda and his attacker‚ who was “wearing gloves”‚ and Van Breda said he did since he had managed to “get the axe out of his grip”.

Botha also raised the issue of how minor his client’s wounds were compared to the rest of his family by highlighting the damage done by an axe versus a knife.