The grey shorts murder-accused Henri van Breda was wearing on the night his mother, father and brother were murdered had a total of 67 blood spatter stains on them.
Captain Marius Joubert, a blood spatter expert at the police’s forensic science laboratory, told the Western Cape High Court on Monday, that he examined a number of exhibits from the crime scene at 12 Goske street in the de Zalze security estate in Stellenbosch.
Of the 67 blood stains found on the front of Van Breda’s shorts, DNA results showed that 35 were from his brother Rudi, five were from his father Martin, and there was a mixture of stains which included his mother, Teresa’s DNA, Joubert testified.
He told the court that these stains were probably the result of contact with a bloodstained object.
Joubert is the State’s final witness in the case against 22-year-old Van Breda, who has been charged with the January 2015 axe killings of his mother, father and brother as well as the attempted murder of his sister Marli, who was 16-years-old at the time.
He told the court that some of the blood spatter stains on the shorts had been saturated in urine which resulted in the appearance of “full fabric penetration”. Joubert said the shorts had been exposed to “multiple blood shedding events”.
Joubert also received a pair of white socks worn by Henri which had “multiple blood spatter stains”. He said force had been applied to the source, travelled through the air and landed on the socks.
He said seventeen blood cuttings were taken from the socks — nine samples came from Rudi, one from Martin, one from Teresa and two from Henri.
A blue t-shirt found half under Henri’s bed was also taken for analysis. Joubert told the court that from 12 cuttings, five were profiled. The blood came from Rudi.
He concluded that some bloodstains on the floor were caused by Marli moving her right arm when emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
In the bedroom Henri shared with Rudi, the blood spatter pattern was in directional angles suggesting they were “caused by force” to Rudi while he was still in bed.
The pattern also suggested Rudi was stationary for a while allowing a pool of blood to form.
Joubert said there was a swipe and wipe pattern suggesting Rudi was moved through the blood. Furthermore, the blood had time to clot before he was moved, indicating time had passed before his upper body on the bed was disturbed.
Bloodstains on the bedroom wall were from Rudi and Martin which suggested: “they were both in contact with the source which left the stain on the wall”.
He said the handle of the axe also had bloodstains on it indicating the axe was in motion.
Spatter blood stains from Marli were found on the shelf in the passageway, probably created as a result of an object in motion, he said.
A non-spatter stain on the side of Rudi’s bed was also found which Joubert said was likely the result of Rudi’s bloodstained hand.
There was also a blood clot found on a knife under Rudi’s bed.
Joubert said blood on the shower floor belonged to Henri, Rudi and Teresa.
He told the court a chemical sprayed revealed blood spatter on the shower door, handle, floor and wall.
A non-spatter bloodstain was found on the back of Theresa’s leg. Joubert said the blood had accumulated which suggested: “gravity as the mechanism”.
Spatter blood stains on the buttocks area of Teresa indicated “blood dripping from a moving object perpendicular and above the buttocks area”.
Spatter bloodstains on the first floor also suggested impact created as a “result of force applied to the blood source”. This had Marli’s DNA, he said.
Van Breda has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder, one of attempted murder, and one of defeating the ends of justice.
In his plea explanation, he claimed that a laughing axe-wielding attacker wearing a balaclava, gloves and dark clothing broke into their house on the security estate. He said the attacker also had a knife.
His mother, Teresa, father Martin, and brother Rudi all died in the attack when they were set upon with an axe or “similarly sharp object”. The youngest of the three siblings, Marli, suffered a severe brain injury. She has since returned to school, but has retrograde amnesia and therefore remembers nothing of the events.
Marli will not be called to testify in the trial because she has no recollection of that night.
– African News Agency (ANA)
