True horror of Van Bredas

Compared to the rest of his family's horrific injuries, 20-year-old murder-accused Henri van Breda suffered minor injuries that were treated at the murder scene.

The stark difference is revealed in the crime scene photos handed in to the Cape Town High Court as evidence in the murder trial.

The court has ruled that the photos should not be published, but the state has allowed journalists to view the images on request.

• Van Breda trial may hang on girl's frail memoryWhat happens next in the Henri van Breda murder trial will depend on medical science and his surviving sister Marli's memory, should she be called to the witness stand.

Van Breda is accused of murdering his mother, father and brother with an axe but he has told a different story - claiming a balaclava-clad man entered the family's Stellenbosch home on the De Zalze estate in January 2015, killing his family.

Van Breda escaped largely unscathed, while his sister, Marli, was hospitalised for months as a result of her injuries.

The crime scene photos show why.

• Blood from Van Breda axe killing flew out of window and hit neighbour's houseThe axeman’s blows which stole his brother’s life were so forceful that they sent drops of blood flying several metres through Henri van Breda's second-storey bedroom window and onto the neighbour's wall.

Van Breda's mother, Theresa, was hit at least three times on the head and father Martin at least five times on the head and once across the back of his neck.

His brother, Rudi, was hit at least four times on the head and Marli also four times on the head and once across her jugular area below her left ear, where the photos reveal a gaping wound.

Henri, on the other hand, suffered razorblade-like cuts across his chest and a knife puncture wound in his left side.

• Van Breda's advocate attacks 'speculative' media sketchThe third day of the trial of Henri Van Breda‚ accused of murdering his parents and brother and attempting to murder his sister‚ began on Wednesday with a dramatic complaint from his advocate Piet Botha‚ who accused a media house of drawing up and publicising an inaccurate sketch of the inside of the family home where the killings took place.

The attack on the family was perpetrated with so much force that evidence of blood spatter was found on the boundary wall below the first-floor windows where the family massacre was carried out, the court has heard.

The crime scene photos depict a dazed and confused-looking Van Breda on an ambulance stretcher wearing light-blue boxer sleep shorts.

Several thin slashes can be seen running across his bare chest and left forearm and a wound dressing is seen on his left side.

As a result of their initial interactions, and seeing Van Breda's wounds and those of his family, police began viewing him as a suspect.

• Murder accused Van Breda goes home The Cape Town High Court has moved to De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate in the picturesque town of Stellenbosch.

Colonel Deon Beneke, who testified in the case, called Van Breda's story "bullshit", adding that he did "not believe a word of it".

But according to Van Breda's plea statement version, read out in court on Monday last week, he escaped so lightly because of a series of deft unarmed combat moves.

Reading like a movie fight scene script, Henri's statement details how he was the last Van Breda standing when the axeman returned to finish him off.

He said he managed to disarm the attacker relatively easily, but then noticed the man was carrying a knife in addition to the axe.

After a tussle, in which Van Breda was allegedly stabbed with the knife, he managed to chase off the assailant.

The trial resumes today.