A former Perth student on trial for allegedly murdering his wealthy parents and brother with an axe called his girlfriend after they were killed rather than emergency services, a South African court has heard.
Henri Van Breda, 22, was reportedly visibly upset during his trial in the Cape Town High Court on Wednesday as his father's twin brother, his former girlfriend, the family housekeeper and a paramedic testified.
He is accused of murdering his father Martin, mother Teresa, brother Rudi and attempting to murder of his sister Marli, who has amnesia from the serious injuries she suffered in the killing frenzy, at their family's luxury gated home in January 2015.
The family moved back to South Africa in 2014 after emigrating to Australia in 2006.
Mr Van Breda denies the charges claiming an intruder, who he tried to fight off, was responsible for the deaths.
His former girlfriend, Bianca van der Westhuizen reportedly held back tears as she told the court she and Henri had gone to the beach together the day of the murders.
Later that night after the pair parted ways, Henri claims an intruder entered his family home around 3am.
South African media outlet, Times Live reported Henri said he threw an axe at a male intruder‚ but in his "pursuit" he lost his footing and fell down the stairs.
He said he could not remember any emergency numbers so instead called Ms van der Westhuizen, who did not answer.
He said he then "lost consciousness" when he came across his hacked sister and mother at the top of the stairs and when he eventually came to, he rang an emergency operator.
"From the information supplied by the state‚ it appears that I attempted to phone her more than once," Henri said in his plea explanation.
"Although I cannot recall exactly how many times I tried to phone her that morning‚ I do not dispute this. I also recall that I eventually sent her a WhatsApp message."
Veteran paramedic Christiaan Koegelenberg – who was one of the first to arrive at the family home in January 2015 – said the attacks were one of the worst incidents he'd seen in his 39 year career.
He described how Marli's blood, "flowed like a waterfall to the bottom of the stairs" – with members in the public gallery, including the Van Breda family – looking down when the court was shown gruesome photos from the scene
"I saw one was still alive. I went to the first two victims and my colleague went to the other two," he said.
Henri's uncle, Andre van Breda, reportedly told the court his brother had a loving and pleasant relationship with his wife and three children, adding they hardly had disagreements and that the children were well-behaved and intelligent.
Housekeeper Precious Myongane testified the family owned an axe, similar to the murder weapon, which was kept behind the ironing board in the scullery.
The trial continues.