A retired paramedic described the bloodbath at the Van Breda house as “one of the worst incidents” he’d seen in his 39 years on the job.
Christiaan Koegelenberg, who worked for Stellenbosch EMS in January 2015, was testifying in the Western Cape High Court where Henri van Breda stands accused of murdering his parents and brother with an axe and the attempted murder of his sister at their De Zalze Estate home.
Koegelenberg had been called out at 7.40am to a scene of a “serious assault”, where he met police.
He told the court he found the accused at the door with a dog.
Officers then led Koegelenberg upstairs where he found two dead bodies on the landing, and another two in the bedroom, one of whom was alive.
“I assisted the young lady... I went and collected our equipment, carried her down the stairs, put her on a drip and took her to Stellenbosch Mediclinic, where I handed her over to Dr Potgieter,” he said.
Koegelenberg then described his shock as he attended to the mother, Teresa’s body.
“Moving [Teresa’s] dead body, blood ran like a waterfall down the stairs,” he said.
“This was one of the worst incidents I had ever seen in my 39 years experience.”
The court was shown images of the blood-soaked stairs and footprints.
The paramedic says it was their footsteps when they were helping the wounded victim.
Van Breda has pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming the killings were carried out by a “laughing” black man who wore a balaclava.
The testimony followed Van Breda’s legal team presenting camera footage evidence that showed at least three vehicles had entered the multi-million rand premises unrecorded on the morning the crimes were reported.