The Van Breda family appeared to be the perfect picture of success. So how did three of the five family members end up murdered in their family home on the De Zalze estate in South Africa? 

Martin Van Breda was an entrepreneurial, hardworking and kind man. His wife Teresa was a loving mother, heavily invested in the lives of her three children; Marli, Henri and Rudi.  

In 2014, the family sold their home in Buderim, on the Australian Sunshine Coast, for 2.5 million dollars and returned to their native South Africa, where they moved into a home in a gated community.  The golf estate in Stellenbosch where they resided, was said to be one of the safest places in the country. 

But one night in January 2015, everything went terribly wrong.  Paramedics would respond to an emergency call in the early hours of January 27 to find a crime scene they would describe as the worst of their careers. 

Three people were dead. One was clutching to life. And another had sustained serious injuries. 

The emergency operator was told there had been a home invasion but there was so much more to this story. 
In this episode we speak to South African journalist and author Julian Jansen, about the case that has become known as the De Zalze, Van Breda Murders. 

Julian has written about the attack in his book The De Zalze Murders, The Story Behind The Brutal Axe Attack, and covered the case as it was unfolding in South Africa’s high courts.

CREDITS
Guest: Julian Jansen author of The De Zalze Murders, The Story Behind The Brutal Axe Attack
Host: Jessie Stephens
Executive Producer and editor: Elise Cooper

RESEARCH

• Unpacking The de Zalze Murders by Julian Jansen SABC Digital News https://bit.ly/2TzRyt8 

• Who is the real Henri van Breda: baby-faced innocent or monster? - Sunday Times by Julian Jansen  https://bit.ly/2TDpq8t 
• Western Cape: Judge Desai says Van Breda case is of 'innate cruelty' - SABC Digital News  https://bit.ly/3cC3YJV 
• 'It was a cold blooded murder': Watch the moment Henri van Breda is sentenced - NEWS 24 https://bit.ly/2ImUHHD 
• Henri Van Breda murder judgment - Interview with Julian Jansen, SABC Digital News https://bit.ly/2vExopY 
• Why did Henri van Breda murder his family? | 60 Minutes Australia  - 60 Minutes Australia, https://bit.ly/3czgqK4   
• LISTEN: Van Breda's chilling emergency call, Times LIVE https://bit.ly/2POiAfh 
• Blood spatter expert gives evidence in South Africa axe murder trial AP Archive https://bit.ly/2PLEcsC 
• 'It was a cold blooded murder': Watch the moment Henri van Breda is sentenced, News 24 https://bit.ly/2VKNyIR 

CONTACT US

Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.  

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