Weeping Pistorius listens to testimony
2013-02-20 14:18
Pretoria - His shoulders shaking as he wept, athlete Oscar Pistorius listened on Wednesday while his lawyer drew the Pretoria Magistrate's
Court back to his version of how he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp early
on Valentine's Day.
"When you don't have your prosthesis on you are more
vulnerable," advocate Barry Roux told the court in an application for bail
by the double amputee.
A paralympian medallist and finalist at last year's Olympic
Games, Pistorius is charged with murdering Steenkamp.
Intruder
He has denied the charge and said in an affidavit that he
thought there was an intruder in the house when he fired the shots that killed
Steenkamp in the bathroom of his Pretoria home.
After testimony in which police investigating officer Hilton
Botha said he believed Pistorius knew he was shooting Steenkamp, Roux worked on
reeling the court back to Pistorius's version of events.
Roux asked Botha whether Steenkamp would have locked herself
in the bathroom, away from danger, had she heard Pistorius scream while she was
in the bathroom.
"That is true," said Botha.
On Tuesday, in his affidavit, Pistorius said he heard a
noise in the bathroom, fetched his firearm and called out to Steenkamp to call
the police.
He then fired shots through the bathroom door, before
realising Steenkamp was inside. He carried her downstairs, where she died.
Roux argued it was more consistent that Pistorius was in the
corridor between the bathroom and the bedroom when he fired one of the four
shots.
Botha agreed, as one of the cartridges was found in that
area.
No defensive wounds
The court heard that Steenkamp's body did not show any
defensive wounds.
Roux told Botha that the post mortem had found that
Steenkamp's bladder was empty and said this was consistent with someone going
to the toilet to relieve themselves.
Pistorius broke down again when this was discussed.
Earlier, Botha told the court a holster and female slippers
were found on the left-hand side of the bed.
Roux said testosterone found at Pistorius's home was herbal
and not banned.
"It is a herbal remedy," he said. "It is not
a steroid and it's not a banned substance." He said the police should get
it tested by a pharmacist as soon as possible.
Botha had testified that investigators found injection needles
in a box under a television set.
Cellphones
Roux asked Botha if the police had checked with Netcare
whether Pistorius had called them, as he said in his affidavit.
"No, we didn't," said Botha.
The court heard earlier that four cellphones were found at
Pistorius's home - two Blackberrys and two iPhones.
He had phone Netcare using a fifth cellphone.
Botha indicated that the State would call witnesses who
would testify about a woman screaming, gunshots, and the sounds of fighting.
The State is opposing Pistorius's application for bail.
- See News24's Pistorius Special Report.
- SAPA
