Van Breda’s leave to appeal application goes to court

Dennis TAugust 14, 2018

20 1 minute read

Convicted axe murderer Henri van Breda’s application for leave to appeal his triple murder conviction is expected to be heard in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

Defence advocate Pieter Botha confirmed his client intended to apply for leave to appeal his conviction and sentence after Judge Siraj Desai handed him three life sentences for the murder of three of his family members, 15 years for the attempted murder of his sister and one year for obstructing the course of justice.

The sentences are to run concurrently.

Van Breda was found guilty of murdering his parents Martin and Teresa, as well as his brother Rudi and attempting to kill his sister Marli.

In his judgment, Desai said the attacks displayed a “high level of innate cruelty and an almost unprecedented disregard for the welfare of one’s own family”.

He said no argument had been advanced to mitigate the impact of the crime and he described the level of violence as “excessive and gratuitous”.

Van Breda had claimed that intruders entered their luxury De Zalze Golf Estate home in Stellenbosch in 2015 and attacked his family.