Читать книгу The De Zalze Murders - Julian Jansen - Страница 7

Unparalleled head trauma

THE BOLAND’S SUPER-RICH and its dirt poor, its notables and nonentities, have all lain before her on the stainless-steel gurneys with their black rubber wheels. On her tables, all are equal. The common denominator? Death.

The head injuries of Martin, Teresa and Rudi van Breda are among the most horrific state pathologist Dr Daphne Anthony has ever seen. A police source would later observe that the injuries looked as if they were caused by an action similar to woodcutting: ‘you grip the axe with both hands and hack with force’.

The wounds are part of this family’s terrible tale, and her findings would help us to tell it.

Dr Anthony, who hails from Paarl, is a senior forensic specialist at the Western Cape’s Forensic Pathology Services in Du Toit Street, Stellenbosch. She is registered with the Health Professions Council as a medical doctor and forensic pathologist. The highly experienced pathologist is said to have lost count of the number of postmortem examinations she has performed.

To her, a body is like a crime scene. She has to determine as methodically and accurately as possible what caused the death of the person lying before her, and what damage the body has sustained. Her report must contain the most minute particulars if it is to be useful in court. During cross-examination the facts have to come alive.

Postmortem examinations consume hours of Dr Anthony’s time. She usually starts early. Within minutes, she is in her element. It is not only her bread-and-butter job but also her passion, colleagues say.

Today she wants to conduct the postmortems of the axe victims first of all. Her greyish hair is tucked away neatly under a headscarf. The three bodies were brought in 48 hours earlier.

First in line is a man with grey hair along his temples. His skin is waxy in the harsh light of her lamp, his face, hair and body bloodstained. The forensic officer John Gouws identifies the corpse of the ‘white adult male’ as that of Martin Christo van Breda, aged approximately 55 years, ‘certified dead on 27 January 2015 at 08:44’.

‘Length: 1,75 m, weight: ±120 kg, physique: overweight,’ Dr Anthony writes.

Detective Constable Zuko Matho looks on, his face drawn and pale. He has rubbed Vicks in his nostrils; it offers some protection against the stench of death. The investigating officer knows what awaits him.

The pathologist wields her scalpel with a well-trained and experienced hand. Warrant Officer André Hitchcock of the police’s Criminal Record Centre in Worcester takes photos. He and Dr Anthony work in tandem: at times, she stands aside so that the sergeant can get close-up shots. A photographer from the Victim Identification Centre is also at work.

In between the camera flashes she records her observations in a notebook. ‘External sharp and blunt trauma involving the head and central upper back,’ she notes. No evidence suggestive of defensive wounds. Mostly skull fractures, brain injuries. Blood in the nostrils and mouth, a moderate amount in the pharynx, trachea and bronchi, and about 100 millilitres in the stomach. No evidence of tablets, tablet pieces or residue in the stomach.

Her conclusion about the cause of death is recorded succinctly: ‘Head injury and consequences thereof – unnatural cause.’ On printed body sketches she indicates the injuries from the top of his head to the back, and numbers them from one to four. They are carefully measured and recorded: a 10 x 7,5 centimetre laceration on the right side of the back of the scalp; another laceration, measuring 9 x 1,5 centimetre, involving the left and back of the scalp; a half-moon-shaped, penetrating incised wound of 8 x 2 centimetre on the upper right area of the scalp; and a 10 x 0,5 centimetre incised wound on the upper back at the junction of the neck.

She also observes a massive skull fracture extending from the front to the back, and linear fractures across the floor of the cranial cavity at the back.

Dr Anthony hands the forensic officer a blood specimen that will be tested for signs of alcohol and other toxic substances. A second specimen is handed to Constable Matho. It will be analysed to determine Martin Christo van Breda’s DNA, which can then be compared to the DNA of the blood at the crime scene as well as with that of the other victims and survivors.

She takes fingernail scrapings; if the victim resisted his attacker, the material left under the fingernails may contain DNA evidence.

The investigating officer is also in attendance as the body of the slim-faced blonde woman is examined. Teresa Jacoba van Breda is aged approximately 56 years, ‘certified dead on 27 January 2015 at 08:44’.

She is not very tall – 1,65 metres in length – and weighs ‘±75 kg’. Her face, hair and body are bloodstained.

She has two large lacerations to the back of her head on the right, measuring 11 x 1,5 centimetre and 11 x 2 centimetre respectively. The pathologist notes several loose skull-bone fragments, as well as underlying damaged brain tissue. At the top of the scalp, to the back on the right, there is a 6,5 x 1,4 centimetre penetrating incised wound.

There are small contusions on the right area of the lower back, abrasions on the bridge of the nose, and blood in the mouth and nostrils. The lungs have collapsed.

A 2-centimetre incised wound on her right thumb suggests she may have tried to defend herself or to ward off the sharp instrument with which she was attacked.

Two blood specimens and fingernail scrapings are taken.

Dr Anthony writes down her conclusion: ‘Head injury and consequences thereof – unnatural cause.’

The third body is that of the 22-year-old Rudi van Breda, ‘certified dead on 27 January 2015 at 08:48’.

He is 1,7 metre tall and weighs about 80 kilograms. His face, hair and body, too, are bloodstained.

The chief findings include ‘external sharp and blunt trauma involving the head and left lateral upper neck’ with consequent brain injuries; small abrasions on the right knee and both wrists; a small incised wound on the left little finger and a loose nail on the same finger that suggest defensive wounds. The left lung has collapsed, and there is blood in the stomach.

The pathologist records the finer details in her notebook: a 7 x 1 centimetre penetrating incised wound on the left side of the upper neck; a large, irregular 20 x 4 centimetre laceration with an attached 7-centimetre linear abrasion to the left side of the head, with loose skull-bone fragments noted in association with this wound; a large, irregular 16 x 2,5 centimetre laceration with a 7 x 1,5 centimetre wound suggestive of a penetrating incised wound in the centre of the left upper area of the scalp, with partially damaged underlying brain tissue noted in association with this wound.

The oesophagus and stomach each contains a small amount of blood. No evidence of tablets, tablet pieces or residue in the stomach.

She hands over the requisite blood specimens and fingernail scrapings for analysis.

The cause of death: ‘Head injury and consequences thereof.’

As state witness in a future criminal case, Dr Anthony would be able to testify that the 22-year-old Rudi was attacked mainly on the left side of his head and body. That the attacker is most probably right-handed. That he wanted to make absolutely sure his victim would die.

With the autopsies concluded, her handwritten notes on each of the victims can now be typed up in the form of an official postmortem examination report for Constable Matho’s De Zalze docket.

***

Captain Candice Brown works at the ballistics unit of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) ultramodern Forensic Science Laboratory in Plattekloof, 15 kilometres north of Cape Town. She analyses the ‘tool marks’ – the markings that the likely murder weapon left on the bodies of Martin, Teresa and Rudi – and has to determine through forensic science with what kind of weapon or instrument they were killed. The axe in front of her is heavy; it weighs about 4,5 kilograms. She has to investigate whether its cutting edge corresponds to the wounds on the victims. Her report could be presented to the court in a criminal case.

Colonel Sharlene Otto, laboratory head of the biology unit of the Forensic Science Laboratory, conducts the DNA tests. She would be able to testify to which of the Van Bredas the DNA found on the axe, a kitchen knife and especially Henri’s boxer shorts belongs. And whose DNA is in the bloodstains and marks left on the walls and the floor. The ‘story’ told by the DNA results would have to tally chronologically with Henri’s witness statement. Any improbabilities in his version of the night’s events could be scientifically exposed.

Colonel Henry Stewart, chief forensic analyst in the biology unit, compiles a report on the analysis and identification of the blood and tissue samples recovered at the crime scene. A member of the digital forensic laboratory of the Hawks (the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) starts preparing the sketches of the scenes, which will include, among other things, the time and duration of the attacks.

***

With the smell of Vicks still in his nostrils, Constable Matho hurries back to 12 Goske Street after the postmortems. As leader of the team of detectives assembled by his superior, Colonel Deon Beneke, for this high-profile case, he cannot afford to be absent from De Zalze for too long.

He is determined to implement correct protocol for the handling and management of crime scenes to the letter. Right from the start, two days ago, he did his best to keep the murder house ‘clean’ and maintain the integrity of the crime scene. He was very specific about who could enter the murder scene at what stage. He escorted those who did gain admittance along a specific route he had designated at the outset. No contamination. No disturbance.

Constable Matho recalls how he took the colonel on a ‘walk-through’ of the scene that morning. They tried to make sense of it all: Where did the attacker(s) enter the house? With what were the occupants attacked? Where was the first victim attacked? What traces were left behind? What was the sequence of events?

He now wants the rest of the investigation to proceed as smoothly as possible. As investigating officer, he manages the case docket. The docket records which detective was instructed early that morning to monitor the movements and behaviour of the surviving son. Also, the tasks of each team member, such as who interviewed what witness. The witnesses include various neighbours, Henri’s (then) girlfriend Bianca van der Westhuizen, his best friend Alex Boshoff, the Van Bredas’ domestic worker, and members of the estate management. He even wrote down in the docket that the family’s two Mercedes-Benz vehicles (an ML and an E class) in the double garage were examined for, inter alia, unknown fingerprints and bloodstains.

Constable Matho had to ensure that valuable physical evidence was collected and recorded so an accurate reconstruction of the crime scene could be done at a later stage. Items such as the ‘brand-new’ axe and a kitchen knife. (Later he would arrange for police officers to visit shops in the area to try to establish where and when the axe was bought.) And the victims’ cellphones and some items of clothing, as well as a handbag of Teresa’s containing R880 in cash, which was left untouched.

And he carried out Colonel Beneke’s instruction to confiscate Henri’s iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. These devices would be examined forensically to track the young man’s online activities in the time prior to the attacks.

***

A week after the tragedy, it is announced that ‘the family has thought it prudent’ to appoint a legal team for Henri. Advocate Pieter Botha was approached to represent him, with Lorinda van Niekerk from Stellenbosch as the briefing attorney.

The move comes out of the blue and causes a sensation. Ben Rootman explains on behalf of the family that it was deemed necessary because of all the ‘speculation’ on the part of the public.

Advocate Botha is not just another legal practitioner. His many high-profile clients include the British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani, who was acquitted of his wife Anni’s murder in the Western Cape High Court. Botha is highly respected in legal circles.

A number of questions arise: Why secure the services of a heavyweight advocate at such an early stage? What does the family know that the media and the public don’t? What is conjectured at the secret family meetings?

A more burning question is: Do both the Van Bredas and the Du Toits stand wholeheartedly and unanimously behind Henri? And would they continue to support him were he arrested for the murders? Do both camps believe there is no blood on his hands?

For now, the tragedy has united the relatives in their grief, but if fingers were to start pointing at Henri, who knows?

***

Part of the enormous responsibility resting on the 34-year-old Constable Matho’s shoulders will be to take receipt of all witness statements, forensic reports, and other reports and documents for further investigation as required. If the teenage girl survives, her statement would be the most crucial of all – provided she is not left with permanent brain damage, he realises.

The investigating officer knows: only once all the requisite information is complete, bound in the De Zalze docket, and a suspect identified, can the case be submitted to the NPA. The NPA will decide whether the evidence is strong enough for a successful prosecution. If so, a warrant of arrest will be issued.

By the end of February, a month after the murders, the investigations at 12 Goske Street have been concluded. The family now have access to the property, but it is rumoured that some of the residents do not want Henri on the estate. Boet Grobler, De Zalze’s manager, says the family have agreed to contact the management before visiting their house.

***

The forensic report on the Van Breda family’s cellphones and computers comes to the attention of the media via reliable sources. Allegedly one of the cells was used to search the internet for information regarding the axe attack on Peter and Joan Porco in Bethlehem in the United States in November 2004.

Christopher Porco (aged 21 at the time) attacked his parents with a fireman’s axe after they had admonished him about his poor grades at university and his spendthrift behaviour. His father died on the scene; his mother survived, but her face was severely disfigured.

According to sources, the user of the cellphone allegedly also looked for information on how long it takes to bleed to death. And a Google search was done for information on ‘dementia’. (A mental disorder caused by brain disease or injury that is characterised by memory disorders, personality changes and impaired reasoning.)

A made-for-television drama titled Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story was allegedly watched on Henri’s mobile. Based on Porco’s case, the film tells the killer’s story in detail – how and why he attacked his parents so brutally. Porco was convicted of murder in 2006 and received a 50-year prison sentence.

The forensic examination reportedly also shows that Henri’s phone was used to access the internet the evening before the murders of his parents and brother, as well as the following morning.

***

More and more snippets of information about Henri start appearing in the media. Friends of the family claim that there was ‘great discord’ at No. 12 Goske Street in the week before the murders. In the preceding weeks, it seems Henri gave his parents a ‘rough time’.

He reportedly suffered from insomnia, with Teresa having to take her son to a nurse in Goske Street at night. A police source mentions that his mother sometimes gave him a painkiller that, according to considerable anecdotal evidence, causes patients to do ‘strange things’ in their sleep – like walking, arguing, even driving a car.

It is also said that Henri struggled with mood swings.

What could have troubled him so much? What exactly plagued Henri?