Van Breda: Contradictions emerge in testimony

Senior state advocate Susan Galloway quizzed Van Breda on the night of the murders and the apparent contradiction in his statement to the police and his subsequent testimony in court.

Van Breda is accused of killing his father Martin, mother Teresa and older brother Rudi with an axe, and of the attempted murder of his sister Marli in the early hours of January 27, 2015.

Galloway spent most of the morning going through the original statement given to the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Stellenbosch shortly after the incident. 

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Van Breda said in the statement that his brother Rudi went for a run in the hours leading up to the incident. He furthermore suggested in his testimony that his father was working on his laptop before and after dinner - facts never presented to the police. 

Van Breda told the court the police officer who took his statement made several errors. 

"I was not sure whether Rudi went for a run. I am also not sure about the time said when he went for the run. This is simply not my words, my Lord.

"I did not tell them that. I was very uncomfortable with how sure they were making me assert myself."

Galloway then asked why van Breda never corrected the police officers.

"It is not accurate. I did correct them but they still wrote up the statement," Van Breda said.