The move of location from the courthouse to the estate was part of the inspection in loco rule Judge Siraj Desai made on Monday during the first day’s proceedings.
Inspection in loco is when a court room moves itself to a crime scene. All court procedures would still be adhered to, only the events take place at the crime scene instead of the courthouse.
The judge will be able to have a look at the outlay of the house, which would allow him to have visual references for evidence that will be laid out by the State and the defence during the trial.
The Van Breda family murders took place in 2015, and according to another report, the property was put on the market thereafter.
The media was not allowed access into the house itself where the murder took place, at the request of the new owner, but the court procession gained entrance inside.
While arguing their case, the defence showed two demonstrations on how entrance can be gained into the house. This comes after Henri Van Breda's claims that two intruders broke into the house, and allegedly murdered his family.
Yesterday, triple murder-accused, Van Breda, 22, entered a plea of not guilty in the Western Cape High Court before Judge Desai.
He whispered “not guilty” to three counts of murder, one of attempted murder and one of defeating the ends of justice.
In his plea explanation read by his lawyer Pieter Botha, he said an attacker wearing a balaclava broke into their house.
His mother Teresa, father Martin and brother Rudi all died in the attack.
Van Breda’s sister, Marli, who was 16 years old at the time, suffered a severe brain injury.
She has retrograde amnesia and remembers nothing of the events.
Stellenbosch police Sergeant Adrian Kleynhans testified yesterday that there were no signs of forced entry nor blood on the ground floor when he arrived at the scene.
The case has been adjourned for the day and will resume in High Court on Wednesday.