Читать книгу The De Zalze Murders - Julian Jansen - Страница 6

Final destination: The safe haven of De Zalze

THE VAN BREDA family’s relatives and friends experience the unthinkable: Martin and Teresa and their Rudi have been killed gruesomely and senselessly. Henri and his sister are now orphans, and he may ultimately be the only survivor of the tragedy because Marli’s condition is critical. She is under constant police guard in hospital; even her closest relatives are barred from visiting her.

Two of many questions keep gnawing like a cancer at those who love her: Who committed these acts? And why?

In the days that follow, Detective Constable Zuko Matho and his team search tirelessly for answers. Along with the forensic team and members of the Criminal Record Centre, they are busy at the crime scene day and night. The street remains cordoned off for three days, the house for an even longer period. Forensic evidence is collected painstakingly and unhurriedly. The constable records every step of the process in his book.

A police helicopter circles above the estate from time to time; an extensive search is coordinated from the air. It yields no results. The residents of De Zalze keep speculating, day after day.

The established residents know little about the Van Bredas. Eventually, however, friends and relatives open their hearts, and the ironic tale unfolds of a family that, after years in a ‘safer’ country, decided to return to South Africa and settle in this exclusive security estate.

A close friend of Teresa, Michelle Barnard,2 for instance, tells of their intimate friendship that stretched back to before the birth of their children. Michelle’s family and the Van Bredas saw a lot of each other when their children were young. ‘My kids were crazy about little Rudi. Then, when Marli was born, everything revolved around her. She was the centre of attention.’

Michelle speaks nostalgically of the times they spent together when both families lived in The Willows near Pretoria. ‘All three of their children were born there; first Rudi, then Henri. Teresa and Martin were overjoyed when the third child was a girl. Some of the kids later attended the Anton van Wouw Primary School. Marli was the sweet one, Rudi the achiever, and Henri the loner.’

Her heart tightens when she thinks of how her friend was butchered. They phoned each other regularly. On the morning of the murders, she tried fruitlessly to get hold of Teresa. Later she called another female friend, who told her: ‘Something terrible has happened. Teresa, Martin and Rudi were hacked to death … with an axe.’ Michelle collapsed next to the telephone.

She misses Teresa enormously. ‘I still can’t sleep. I keep thinking of the action. How do you take an axe … and you hack, hack, hack?’

***

About Martin, his friends are in agreement: He excelled at his work and became a wealthy man, always surrounded by his wife and three children. They were a close-knit family. Well looked after. Went on many holidays together – expensive ones. The children attended the best schools. He was strict but loving.

He established the Rudell Holdings Trust so that the children would be provided for after he and Teresa were gone. Rudi, Henri and Marli are named as the sole beneficiaries of the trust.

An entrepreneur par excellence, Martin acquired his wealth through a series of carefully planned and orchestrated moves – like a grand master at chess. He took after his father Bailey, who was equally successful in his day. Likewise, Martin’s identical-twin brothers, André and Bailey, are prominent businessmen, in Silver Lakes, Pretoria, and Mbombela (Nelspruit), Mpumalanga, respectively.

Martin matriculated at Kuswag High School in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal. After obtaining a degree in civil engineering at Stellenbosch University, he completed his MBA degree at the University of Pretoria.

Business friends remember him as a real ‘visionary’ who exploited high-potential possibilities in education, home security and the property market. He had the ability to sniff out business opportunities, draw up business plans and implement them successfully.

Martin held directorships of various investment, property and education companies in Polokwane, Pretoria, Rustenburg and other places. He was also a director of Smartscan, which provides machine guarding and safety products.

Schools and good education were his passion; Woodhill College in Pretoria, which he established with great business acumen, was his pride. The school caters for pupils from grades R to 12 and has a Christian foundation. Martin was jubilant when he sold this baby of his to Curro Holdings for R185 million in 2012.

His concern about the high crime levels in the country prompted him to help find solutions. Accordingly he became a co-founder of Netstar, which supplies the technology for the tracking and recovery of stolen vehicles.

***

It was reportedly love at first sight when Martin van Breda and Teresa du Toit met in 1983. Both of them worked in Pretorius Street in Pretoria at the time. Teresa, one of seven children, had grown up in the Johannesburg suburb of Florida. Encouraged by her father, Dr Rudi du Toit, she studied computer science at the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg).

Teresa first worked for IBM and later in banking before she married Martin in Pretoria. According to Elna Venter, who had introduced the couple to each other, they were friendly, industrious Christians who systematically worked their way to the top. The young couple’s favourite pastime was watching John Wayne films.

At an early stage of the marriage Martin already told Teresa he would like his children to study at his alma mater, Stellenbosch University, one day. And that he would like to live in the town himself.

The successful businessman took his family on frequent trips to new and exciting destinations. But they also spent holidays at their luxury home in the exclusive Thesen Islands waterfront development in Knysna in the southern Cape, relaxed at their property in Sabie Park bordering the Kruger National Park, or entertained friends on the farm, Rietfontein.

The Van Bredas lived in Waterkloof Heights, a posh suburb in the old east of Pretoria, for several years. Their property was high-lying, with a double-storey house, cypress trees and bougainvillea climbers lining the long driveway, a leafy garden, and a swimming pool.

The worrying crime situation sometimes caused Martin to wonder aloud whether he should take his family out of the country. Then he acquired the Australian subsidiary of the German property group Engel & Völkers. The company specialises in the sale and leasehold of prime residential and commercial property, as well as yachts. In 2006 the Van Bredas uprooted themselves and moved to Australia.

Their new home was an elegant grey face-brick double-storey house in a leafy street in Claremont, Perth. With its white window frames and three little peaked roofs, it looks like a storybook house. It has four spacious bedrooms, three bathrooms, a double garage.

Martin’s workplace was in a modern office complex in the Subiaco business district of Perth. He had an extremely active business life. A new start in the relatively safer Australia excited him.

The six-year-old Marli was enrolled at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College in the city. Rudi (then 12) and Henri (10) became students at the prestigious Scotch College, a private school for boys.

Rudi’s endearing nature soon made him very popular with his classmates. His constant smile was contagious. He gained a wide circle of friends and regularly shared photos of functions on social media. In time, he became a model of success, both in sport – he excelled at rugby, team rowing, water polo and tennis – and academically. Rudi became best friends with Sam Fearon, a fellow pupil who later became a musician. The two sporty youngsters enjoyed many adventures together, and successfully completed a challenging 19-kilometre channel swim from Perth to Rottnest Island in 2008, when they were only 15. Teresa was a homemaker, and often went swimming with them or at times just stood on the shore as they trained, or simply cavorted, in the sea.

Rudi obtained his science degree at the University of Melbourne and embarked on his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. It seemed as if he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Love also blossomed for Rudi after he met the attractive brunette Nicole East.

In his teenage years, Henri, on the other hand, spent hours at the computer, mostly playing games. He was happy on his own, with only his laptop and tablet for company. He seldom socialised and did not have a girlfriend. He was a loner who kept his thoughts to himself. After matriculating at Scotch College in 2012, Henri registered for a degree in physics at the same university as his brother.

After seven years in Perth, the family had to move yet again. Engel & Völkers had opened a new office in Mooloolaba, a waterfront development north of Brisbane on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and was looking for someone to run it. To Martin, this was a new challenge and business opportunity.

The Van Bredas’ next residence was an impressive two-level house of ironbark timber and stone, on a 3,8-hectare plot in Box Street, Buderim. The 12-sided Aquila House has six bedrooms on the ground floor and three on the top level, each with an en-suite bathroom and a veranda with sea and forest views. Hundreds of trees stand on the property, in between waving elephant grass.

Marli, now 13 years old, was delighted with her new school, Matthew Flinders Anglican College. She shared her happiness in her new environment on Facebook. She liked the school uniform very much: a white blouse, blue-and-green tartan skirt and tie, with a white hat and blue hatband. Marli and her friends regularly explored the city and its surrounds, had fun at the beach or simply went shopping. Photos that she shared on social media give glimpses of the family’s holidays in South Africa and at various exotic locations.

On one occasion, she was unable to visit a friend in Melbourne because her new dental braces hurt slightly, but also because her father had just returned from a business trip to South Africa. ‘I know my dad is tired of flying around …!!! Grrrrrr I wish I could!!!’ her Facebook message read.

During a holiday in South Africa Marli wrote how she missed being at Club Med in Mauritius, where the family had stayed on one of their trips. ‘Club Med is the absolute BEST place for a holiday. Mostly to have a break of ur parents and just hanging out with some cool kids from around the world!!!!!!’

At some stage, Teresa invited her close friend Michelle and her family to visit them in Buderim – because she ‘missed her so very much’. ‘I’ve already worked out how you should fly,’ Teresa told Michelle. But Michelle’s youngest son dislocated his shoulder, and the trip to Australia had to be postponed on account of the operation.

After two years in Buderim, Martin had to close the Mooloolaba office, apparently as a result of a global financial crisis.

In 2014 another exciting opportunity presented itself to Martin: opening a private school in South Africa. He decided that he would return home together with Teresa and Marli; Rudi and Henri first had to complete their studies in Melbourne before joining them permanently.

He and Teresa chose to move to the student town of Stellenbosch in the Boland region, with its winelands and beautiful scenery. Martin’s long-time wish to live in Stellenbosch would be realised.

The couple was very excited, friends said. Martin had always hoped Marli would one day attend Stellenbosch University, as he had done years before. Marli, too, was thrilled to be back, especially because the family would be closer to their South African relatives and she could see them more frequently.

Martin kept the house in Buderim, as well as their cars. According to a colleague, he intended to return there.

The picturesque and exclusive De Zalze Winelands Golf Estate was Martin and Teresa’s first choice. The estate is situated in a wine-making region that includes the towns of Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Franchhoek, Paarl and Wellington. Word-class wines are produced here. The name of the 300-hectare estate, with its houses in a modern Cape Dutch style, originates from early wine farms in the area: Groote Zalze, Kleine Zalze and Die Vleie. The estate with its 18-hole championship golf course is also a working farm, with 120 hectares of vineyards, citrus orchards and olive groves.

Since its establishment in 2002 De Zalze has become one of the most sought-after property investments in South Africa. There are security cameras, and guards patrol the estate round the clock. Good security comes at a price; some houses here have fetched up to R16 million. Everything about the set-up impressed Martin.

The couple bought the white double-storey house at 12 Goske Street for R4,6 million and moved into their new home in March 2014. Marli was enrolled in Grade 10 at Somerset College, outside the nearby town of Somerset West. In August Henri joined them from Australia. Rumours were circulating that he had dropped out of university.

After Rudi joined his family just over a week before Christmas, they travelled to Gauteng to visit Teresa’s brothers Heinrich and Francois du Toit and their sisters Wessie du Toit, Leenta Nel and Narita du Toit, among others. (André du Toit from Welgelegen, Parow, is their other brother.) Martin’s twin brothers in the north were also on the itinerary. In between, the Van Breda family relaxed for a few days at their holiday home in Knysna.

On Wednesday, 21 January 2015, Marli started her school year at Somerset College. At R104 000 per year, the English-speaking private school on the farm Vredelus is among the most expensive in the country. The school is a 10-minute drive from De Zalze. The vivacious blonde teenager was a member of a lift club started by parents from the estate the previous year.

On Friday Teresa phoned her brother Heinrich to congratulate him on his 61st birthday. They had a long conversation. The coming weekend, she told him, would be the last one the family would all be together before Rudi returned to university the following week. Henri would fly back to Australia in the second term, after first doing a diving course in Sodwana Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.

On Saturday Martin treated his family to a long-promised shark-cage diving experience at Gansbaai, near Hermanus. On Sunday they made a fire with briquettes at home to enjoy a last family braai before Rudi’s departure. During the course of the day Narita asked her sister in the Boland in a WhatsApp message if she enjoyed having her children around her. Teresa replied: ‘Yep I doooooo.’ She sounded very happy.

Monday was a sweltering day. Even by bedtime the heat had not abated. Father and sons wore only boxer shorts. Mercifully, the air conditioning throughout the house kept the rooms cool. Everyone slept upstairs: Rudi and Henri shared a bedroom overlooking the street, and down the passage on the opposite side Marli and their parents slept in adjoining rooms.

In the dead of night a bedroom light went on in a neighbouring house. The children who lived there claimed to have heard raised voices coming from 12 Goske Street. Then all was quiet again.

The following morning, Narita WhatsApped a joke to Teresa. When her sister had still not responded by about half past ten, she became concerned and phoned their brother Francois. She could hear from his voice that something was drastically wrong, almost as if someone had died. He broke the shocking news that Martin, Teresa and Rudi had been slashed to death with an axe and that Marli’s life was hanging by a thread. Henri, at least, sustained only some scratches. Soon afterwards Narita heard and saw the flood of reports on the murders of her relatives. She was hysterical.

***

A prayer service for Marli is held at her new school. Her best friend, Mia Boshoff from Johannesburg, posts a photo of the two of them on Facebook. Her friends all pray for her.

The Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Perth, too, holds a vigil in the school’s chapel. The principal, Beth Blackwood, says the thoughts and prayers of the school are with the Van Breda family. Marli was a ‘much valued member’ of their community for seven years. Her brothers’ former headmaster at Scotch College, Alec O’Connell, expresses his school’s sympathy and says Henri and Rudi were ‘active students’ in their boarding house and in the college. And that the Van Breda family was ‘a valued part’ of their group.

Rudi’s friends express their sadness and shock on social media. After hearing of his best friend’s death, musician Sam Fearon writes ‘Rudi’s Song’ as a tribute, and shares it on the internet. Sam’s mother, Annie Durrand, says from Kent in the United Kingdom that they came to know Rudi very well in the five years she and Sam lived in Australia; Rudi was ‘like a second son’ to her. He was a gentle person, polite, always smiling. She and Sam are devastated and very angry over his loss.

***

In a bizarre incident on the night of the same day as the axe murders, a dear friend of Martin and Teresa took her own life. Early in the new year, the Van Bredas visited Marie Gous and her husband Flip at Bon Avontuur, the Gous couple’s game farm next to the Gouritz River Bridge outside Mossel Bay. The 72-year-old Marie suffered from cancer.

The appalling news about her friends’ death affected Marie very deeply, her family said. Late that night the couple was driving on the N2 in the direction of Albertinia when Marie shot herself in the seat next to Flip.

***

The memorial service for Martin, Teresa and Rudi in the Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria is conducted by the Reverend Willem Badenhorst. The bodies were cremated so there are no coffins.

Since their horrendous deaths, the pastor says, everyone has been asking: ‘Why, Lord?’

‘Death tears a part out of one’s life. The death of Martin, Teresa and Rudi speaks to all of us, also to the nation. It points a finger and asks: “Are you ready for death?”’

He describes each of them in turn: ‘Martin, the gentle, generous family man; Teresa, the quiet rock in the Van Breda household; Rudi, the unique human being with abundant love that he shared unstintingly.’

Later in his prayer he thanks God that in the very last seconds He did not let go of Teresa’s hand, still held His arms around Rudi, and did not abandon Martin. And then implores: ‘Lord, henceforth, would You accompany Henri and Marli every step of the way?’

Henri is nowhere to be seen at the service. Many doubt afterwards that he was present. But his uncle André van Breda says later: ‘Of course Henri was at the memorial service.’

His nephew is traumatised, he says, and both sides of the family – his support structure, his legal team, everybody – support him. The young man is heartbroken; André has promised Henri that he would not abandon him.

He also mentions that Marli’s condition has improved from critical to stable. The doctors have phoned him to ask whether she could be moved from the intensive-care unit to a big room where she could receive physiotherapy. The nurses have already decorated the room with family photos, he adds, visibly moved. ‘Marli moves her eyes when one speaks to her. We are asking everyone to pray for her.’

***

Once the funeral is over, the media focus starts to include the Van Bredas’ will. A family spokesman, Ben Rootman, confirms that their three children and the Rudell Holdings Trust are beneficiaries of the couple’s considerable wealth. He adds that the Australian assets have not yet been fully determined, but are also left to family and to the trust.

Martin’s brother Bailey and Teresa’s brother André have been added as trustees. Bailey is also one of the executors of the estate, which could reportedly amount to more than R200 million. Along with Bailey’s twin brother André and another trustee, Don Bosman, they have to protect and manage the interests of the only surviving beneficiaries, Henri and Marli.

Three months after the tragedy, a report claims that the life-insurance policies of the murdered Van Bredas could not yet be paid out, possibly because of uncertainty about who is entitled to the money. According to an ‘impeccable source’, ‘the family’ of the two young heirs approached the police for a letter confirming that no prima facie evidence existed that linked Henri or Marli to the murders. The police either could not or would not issue such a letter.

The request for the letter was reputedly made amid ‘impatience’ by a relative to wrap up financial affairs. According to a police source, the family member concerned was apparently very upset because the request to the police had been leaked.

A burning question starts emerging: Is there perhaps division between the Du Toits and the Van Bredas? A source close to the investigation tells the media that some of the relatives feel for unknown reasons that the inheritance should go only to Marli, while others believe both children are entitled to it. Marli’s enormous medical costs are at issue, as well as the costs of the legal team that has been appointed to protect Henri’s interests. Were Henri to become an accused, the expenses could be astronomical.

There is another nagging question: Could the ‘bloody hand’ benefit in any way from the estate? In terms of the ‘bloody hand’ principle, a murderer may not inherit from his or her victim, but there is uncertainty as far as the aspect of maintenance is concerned. If Henri were arrested, would all the trustees agree that his legal expenses be paid from the trust?

The police have not yet identified a suspect, and Lorinda van Niekerk, a member of Henri’s legal team, insists that Henri’s instructions to them are ‘privileged’. She does confirm that the police took possession of Henri’s passport ‘along with those of the other family members’. She is unaware that the family has requested the police to provide a letter for the life insurers.

Ben Rootman, in turn, says on behalf of the family that Henri is receiving counselling. He is coping under the circumstances, and the last thing on his mind is money.

Three months after the murders the family home of 364 m², an asset of Rudell Holdings Trust, is put on the market for R6,2 million, R1,6 million more than Martin paid for it the year before. The furniture would be sold separately. Compared to the family’s previous residences, this one is relatively modest, with the private spaces around it exceptionally small.

Reportedly, there is immediately interest, and many enquiries are made about the house with its four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two living areas, a pool and two garages. But it would take six unsuccessful offers and a period of 20 months before it is finally sold – at the asking price of R6,2 million.

No. 12 Goske Street, where two parents and their eldest child met their deaths in one of the most unspeakable ways imaginable.

2 A pseudonym.