Referring to Van Breda's plea statement, in which he claimed there had been unknown intruders on the premises, Desai said the court agreed with the state prosecutor "that it is highly unlikely the perimeter [of the De Zalze estate] was breached by an intruder".

There was "no credible evidence that an intruder entered the estate” on the night of the incident, the judge said.

Desai added that Van Breda would have had ample time to tamper with evidence.

Each piece of evidence "on its own" might not have been enough to convict him‚ said the judge‚ but "cumulatively" there was only one reasonable inference that could be drawn from the evidence and testimonies – that Van Breda was guilty.

Desai said the court had concluded the chances were "virtually nil" that a second axe had been used at the crime scene. The lack of Marli's blood on the axe did not mean she had not been attacked with that axe.

He emphasised that forensic pathologist Dr Daphne Anthony had described the types of injuries to Marli's head as being "highly similar to those sustained by the other family members" and that "it is highly unlikely the alleged attacker would have brought along an axe similar to the one in the family home".

Van Breda's bail has been revoked and he will be detained in the hospital section of Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town while awaiting sentencing. His defence team will have to provide medical certificates and have his medical condition verified independently if he is to remain in the medical wing.

Long road to justice

Monday's judgment came more than three years after news of the the brutal attacks first rocked the country.

On January 27 2015‚ Van Breda placed a call to emergency services from his family home. Emergency workers found a scene of horror: Martin and Teresa van Breda had been savagely attacked with an axe and had bled out on the first floor of their home. Rudi also lay lifeless on the floor‚ with major head injuries clearly inflicted with an axe.

Still alive‚ but barely clinging to life‚ was Marli van Breda, who was taken to hospital.

Soon‚ the news of the triple murder spread across the estate, into the Stellenbosch community and around the entire country - even as far afield as Australia, where the family had lived for several years‚ and the UK, where close family friends began following the news of what had happened.

Rumours then proliferated about the “problematic middle child” of the well-to-do Van Breda family‚ and the utter shock of such a gruesome attack happening at such a tightly guarded security estate.

It took around 18 months for an arrest to be made‚ which cued a rollercoaster ride of DNA experts‚ police officers‚ forensic pathologists‚ domestic workers‚ neighbours and scores of other witnesses - including Van Breda himself.

This is a developing story.