The aunt and girlfriend of a Perth schoolboy who was convicted of hacking his wealthy parents and brother to death in a frenzied axe attack are both adamant he’s innocent, despite overwhelming evidence proving otherwise.
Henri van Breda, 23, claimed a masked intruder killed his brother, Rudi, father, Martin and mother, Teresa, while leaving his sister Marli fighting for life with bloody injuries to her head, neck and throat at the family’s South African home in January 2015.
Yet powerful circumstantial evidence and multiple inconsistencies destroyed this defence and found van Breda guilty of three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of misleading justice.
For the first time, his girlfriend, Danielle Janse van Rensburg, has broken her silence maintaining van Breda’s innocence despite the fact her boyfriend remains behind bars serving three concurrent life sentences.
Henri van Breda, 23, (centre) claimed a masked intruder killed his brother, Rudi, father, Martin and mother, Teresa, while leaving his sister Marli fighting for life at the family home in 2015
For the first time, Danielle Janse van Rensburg (right) has broken her silence, maintaining Henri’s (left) innocence despite the fact her boyfriend remains behind bars
Ms Janse van Rensburg, who did not know of van Breda’s past when the couple met, said the now-convicted murderer told her everything
Powerful circumstantial evidence and multiple inconsistencies found Henri (right) guilty of three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of misleading justice
Ms Janse van Rensburg, who did not know of van Breda’s past when the couple met, said the now-convicted murderer told her everything.
‘Just knowing him, just knowing how unable he is to hurt anything… he doesn’t like seeing anybody to be in pain,’ she told 60 Minutes.
‘He, honestly, he will rather be in pain just to help someone else out. He is very selfless,’ she said.
Van Breda’s aunt Leenta Nell (pictured) believes her nephew was set up in the shocking attack to appear as the murderer and not a victim
The 23-year-old told the program she felt ‘very safe’ around van Breda in the months the couple were together and before he was convicted for the murder of his family.
She denied she had been manipulated by him and would only believe his guilt if there was ‘actual’ evidence or camera footage.
Detective Sergeant Marlon Appollis (pictured) described van Breda’s demeanour as being entirely calm in the aftermath of his family’s murder
Van Breda’s aunt Leenta Nell also believes her nephew is innocent.
Instead, Ms Nell believes the murders were a set up in an attempt to make her nephew appear as the murderer and not a victim.
Detective Sergeant Marlon Appollis described van Breda’s demeanour as being entirely calm in the aftermath of his family’s murder.
Forensic pathologist Dr Marianne Tiemensma, who analysed Henri’s injuries, found the knife wounds were self-inflicted, superficial in nature and barely broke the skin.
Martin, Theresa and Rudi all died from deep wounds to their heads and upper bodies, while Marli suffered a severed jugular vein.
She is allegedly unable to remember the incident, and was therefore unable to testify against her brother.
Danielle Janse van Rensburg believes her boyfriend (left) is innocent and that there’s more to the story than what’s already been reported
Van Breda (left) was given three life sentences for the murder of his brother and parents
Henri van Breda (circled) pictured with his brother Rudi, his father Martin, his mother, Teresa, and his sister Marli
State prosecutor told the court that Marli was a vulnerable schoolgirl at the time and ‘grew up alone, knowing that her brother killed her parents and siblings.’
‘You have committed crimes of unbridled violence against your own family, killing three and causing serious injuries to the fourth who was fortunate to survive,’ Judge Desai said.
‘Each murderous attack on a family member is a severe crime and warrants the severest punishment,’ Mr Desai told the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.
Marli (pictured) suffered a severed jugular vein and was the sole survivor of the attack
Van Breda told the court he ‘watched helplessly’ from a bathroom as a masked man, laughing hysterically, butchered his family with an axe
Henri Van Breda arrives with his partner Danielle Janse Van Rensburg at the Western Cape High Court
The grisly murder took place in the early hours of the morning at the family’s luxury villa on the De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate, at Stellenbosch.
The estate boasted electric fencing around the entire perimeter, as well as security gates, 24-hour dog patrols and CCTV surveillance.
Van Breda told the court he ‘watched helplessly’ from a bathroom as a masked man, laughing hysterically, butchered his family with an axe.
When the attacker turned on him, van Breda claimed he wrestled with the man, disarmed him and fought him off – surviving the assault with superficial stab wounds and falling unconscious afterwards.
The state insisted that van Breda’s wounds were self-inflicted, however, while the judge raised multiple questions about the defence case.
‘The court is in agreement that it is highly unlikely that the security was breached by an intruder from outside the estate,’ Mr Desai said.
‘The accused could not say how the security was breached (and) confirmed that he never felt insecure, unsafe or threatened while living on the estate.’
During the trial, van Breda described ‘watching helplessly’ from a bathroom as a masked man, laughing hysterically, butchered his family with an axe
Van Breda said he had survived the attack with superficial stab wounds inflicted after he wrestled with the attacker who was trying to slit his throat, and claims he then fell unconscious
Mr Desai also noted the axe and a knife used in the attack were both kept in the house.
He said it was ‘peculiar’ that an attacker would butcher an entire family while leaving one person in the corner of the room before going after them.
Another ‘odd’ detail, according to Mr Desai, was why such a hardened killer as the one van Breda described would have fled after being disarmed, despite more weapons being readily available in the house.
The judge questioned why van Breda did not immediately call for help afterwards, but instead called his girlfriend and went to sleep.
And when he did eventually call the emergency services, two hours and 40 minutes after the attack, he is said to have ‘displayed a peculiar lack of empathy’.
‘If the accused’s intention was to be helped as soon as possible, it does not explain why he first called his girlfriend, a minor schoolgirl residing in a hostel, several times from his mobile phone,’ the judge pointed out.
The grisly murder took place in the early hours of the morning at the family’s luxury villa on the De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate, at Stellenbosch (pictured)
Henri van Breda arrives at the Lanseria Airport on May 15, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa
Last week, van Breda was attacked by five inmates while making his way back to the hospital section of Pollsmoor Prison, located 22km outside of Cape Town.
Another prisoner ripped a metal condom dispenser from a wall and used it as a weapon to fend off van Breda’s attackers.
‘Henri said [his attack] was a terrifying, horrible experience,’ said van Breda’s attorney Lorinda van Niekerk after visiting her client on Friday morning.
Pollsmoor is notorious for overcrowding, poor health conditions, gang violence and rape.
Cells built to take 30 men are often filled with up to 80 prisoners, most of whom are forced to sleep on the floor.
Conditions there were recently described as ‘profoundly disturbing’ by a constitutional judge.
Henri van Breda arrives in court for his sentencing at the Western Cape High Court on June 7