Henri van Breda will be sentenced on June 7 after being found guilty of killing his parents and brother and attempting to kill his sister in a frenzied axe attack at their South Africa home.
Van Breda, now 23, was due for sentencing in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday but Judge Siraj Desai decided to stand down for a few days to consider the sentence.
"I think I owe it to the accused and society," Judge Desai said.
Van Breda had denied murdering his brother Rudi, 21, and parents Martin, 54, and Teresa, 55.
All three were found dead at the family’s mansion in South Africa’s Stellenbosch on January 27, 2015.
He also denied leaving his sister Marli with near-fatal head, neck and throat injuries.
On May 21, he was found guilty of killing his mother, father and brother, and attempting to kill his sister. He was also found guilty of defeating the ends of justice.
During the trial, he told the court that a late-night intruder had entered the family's luxury residence on the highly-guarded De Zalze Golf Estate in Stellenbosch, outside Cape Town.
Van Breda showed little emotion when the guilty verdict was delivered.
Henri van Breda arrives to sit in the dock at the Western Cape High Court to hear the verdict in his trial. Source: Getty
Judge Siraj Desai at the Western Cape High Court. Source: Getty
In his testimony, he claimed he was in the toilet when the masked intruder began attacking his family.
He had suffered superficial stab wounds, which he claimed were caused while wrestling with an attacker who was trying to slit his throat. He said he then fell unconscious.
Prosecutors insisted the wounds were self-inflicted and called for van Breda to be sentenced to a life sentence for each murder.
During Tuesday's sentencing hearing before Judge Desai, the court heard van Breda spoke highly of his mother and described his relationship with his sister Marli as “normal”.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Susan Galloway read out the impact that the crime had on Marli, saying she was a “vulnerable schoolgirl” when the attack occurred.
Marli was 16 at the time. She has no memory of the attack. Her survival was described by Galloway as a “miracle”.
Calling for a life sentence, Galloway described Marli as an “intelligent woman who has to grow up alone”.
She said Marli will have to “go through life with the knowledge that her brother killed her family and also tried to kill her”.
“Her life will never be the same again.”
She said Martin van Breda clearly loved and trusted his son and did not expect to be attacked.
Henri van Breda sitting in the dock awaiting sentencing on June 5. Source: News 24
Teresa van Breda was also described by Galloway as a “loving mother who wanted the best for her family”.
The court heard he also had friends in Australia, connections he had made after the family moved there. They had returned to South Africa several years ago.
The family had lived on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where Martin van Breda had run a real estate firm in Mooloolaba. They resided in the suburb of Buderim at the time.
Before this, the family lived in Perth. Henri and Rudi had attended Scotch College.
Questions over lack of urgency to call for help
During the trial, Judge Desai took apart the defence case.
"The accused was the perpetrator of the crime is the only reasonable conclusion," he said.
"No evidence of a typical house robbery or break-in is evident. Four of five members of family found brutally attacked in a similar fashion and left for dead... The accused was left standing, having lived through the events.
"It is nonsensical that an intruder with the intention to steal would go upstairs and start attacking the family."
Judge Desai had also questioned why van Breda waited three hours to call security or the emergency services.
In a previously heard recording of van Breda's call to emergency services, he said his family members were "bleeding from the head" before he appeared to giggle.
"If the accused's intention was to be helped as soon as possible, it does not explain why he first called his (then) girlfriend... several times from his mobile phone," Judge Desai said.
