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Van Breda awaits appeal ruling on triple murder conviction

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Judgment is expected in an application for leave to appeal the conviction and sentence of triple axe murderer, Henri van Breda.

The matter is being heard in the High Court in Cape Town on Monday. Van Breda’s lawyers say he was wrongly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Earlier this year, the court found him guilty of using an axe to attack his family in January 2015 at their De Zalze Estate home in Stellenbosch.

Breda’s counsel says the trial court erred in its finding that the circumstantial evidence presented by the State proves his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

It believes an appeal court could come to a different finding on both the conviction and sentence. Van Breda has insisted throughout the trial that the attack, which left his brother and parents dead and his sister seriously injured, was carried out by a balaclava-clad, axe-wielding intruder.

The State is opposing the application. Van Breda is currently serving three life sentences for the murders and a further 15 years for attempted murder, which will run concurrently.

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