Van Breda trial postponed to Wednesday
The court was told that advocate Pieter Botha’s son was in hospital, and he would only be available on Wednesday.
Henri van Breda.
The trial against 22-year-old Henri van Breda was postponed to June 7 in the Western Cape High Court on Monday, as his defence advocate was unable to attend proceedings.
Van Breda has been charged with the brutal axe killings of both his parents and his older brother at their home in the De Zalze Estate in Stellenbosch in January, 2015. He also faces a charge of attempted murder for the attack of his sister, who was 16 years old at the time. She survived.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murders and is currently out on R100 000 bail.
Last week, crime scene investigator Warrant Officer Andre Hitchcock told the court that police spent about three weeks collecting DNA and blood samples from the scene. He will be cross-examined when the case resumes on Wednesday.
Judge Siraj Desai also ruled last week that the initial statement that Van Breda made to police on January 27, 2015, be admissible.
The defence had argue vehemently against this as they said police had believed Van Breda was a suspect from day one, yet he had not been warned of his rights when he made the statement.
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