Two brothers murder father for killing their pet dog — police
Henri van Breda, 23, hacked his wealthy parents and brother to death at their luxury home in Stellenbosch in 2015. He also tried to butcher his 16-year-old sister, but she survived the attack—although never regained her memory of that day.
Van Breda had deliberately wounded himself and initially claimed a Black ax man had broken into the home and attacked him, too. But there were no signs of a break-in, no valuables were taken, and his injuries were minor compared to the violence inflicted on the rest of the family, who had moved to South Africa from Australia. He also delayed calling the police for hours, investigators said.
He denied the murders and a motive was never established. Some reports speculated he may have been hoping to gain the family's wealth for himself, while others said he was a drug-using university drop-out who may have become enraged at disappointing his family. While sentencing him, Judge Siraj Desai said:"These attacks display a high level of innate cruelty and an almost unprecedented disregard for the welfare of one's own family, one's parents and siblings. Each murderous attack upon a family member constitutes a very serious crime, warranting the severest penalty possible."
South Africa officially abolished the death penalty in 1995, making life in prison the nation's most severe sentence.
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