The Cape High Court postponed the trial of triple murder accused Henri van Breda, but not before Judge Siraj Desai did some cross-examining himself.
Desai wanted to know how blood spots got on Van Breda’s shoes which he claimed he left at the bottom of the stairs, as he always did.
“They were next to the carpet that had a pool of blood,” Van Breda said after examining a photograph of the shoes.
But he conceded he didn’t know “exactly” how the blood spots got onto the shoes.
Van Breda also told Judge Desai he hid cigarettes in the shoes and usually left them there for his walks with the family dog, Sasha.
He was hiding the entjies from Marli, his sister, as his parents didn’t want her to know he smoked, he testified.
The 23-year-old has claimed that a laughing, axe-wielding intruder wearing a balaclava and gloves was behind the January 2015 attacks that left his parents, Teresa and Martin, and his brother Rudi dead. Marli was severely injured.
On Monday, senior State prosecutor Susan Galloway wrapped up her cross-examination and told the court Van Breda had “selective memory loss more often than not when it comes to incriminating evidence”.
She highlighted the discrepancies in Van Breda’s initial police statement on 27 January and his plea explanation, saying he later added timelines, became “vague” when it suited him and tailored his evidence after having “ample time” to scrutinise the police docket.
The case was adjourned until Tuesday.