Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his murder trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Thursday, 13 March 2014. The Paralympian pleaded not guilty to murder, although he admits killing Reeva Steenkamp by shooting her through a locked bathroom door. He mistook her for a burglar in his house, saying he made a tragic but understandable mistake. The murder trial has been compared to that of the OJ Simpson case in the United States 20 years ago. Picture: Alet Pretorius/Pool
A tattoo of the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 which includes the words: “I do not run like a man running aimlessly” was visible on his back and there was blood smeared on his left arm.
Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs — not the “blades” he is more famous for as he waited at starting lines in Paralympic and Olympic races — and white socks of which one was soaked with blood.
Pistorius took notes as former Boschkop police station commander Giliam van Rensburg recalled events on the morning of February 14, 2013.
He took the court through several photographs of the scene taken by a police photographer, including a bloodied toilet bowl with smears of blood on the seat.
When he was asked to confirm a photograph of Steenkamp, it was not shown to the court, the screen going white.
On Thursday, pictures of her bloodied body were inadvertently shown as officials scrolled through pictures to display.
From a distance the colour photographs in Van Rensburg’s file could be seen as he turned the pages.
He said the photograph of Pistorius was taken in the garage before he was arrested for the murder of Steenkamp.
He told Pistorius he was not under arrest yet but that he should not leave the house.
He said either Pistorius or his brother Carl had called Pistorius’s legal representative Kenny Oldwadge who arrived on the scene.
At that point Van Rensburg was working with Warrant Officer Hilton Botha and the police photographer.
Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering model and law graduate Steenkamp, saying he did indeed shoot her but thought there was an intruder in the house when he fired four shots through the toilet door, where she was.
She died on the scene.
He has also pleaded not guilty to charges under the Firearms Act for allegedly discharging a weapon in a restaurant and shooting out of the sunroof of a car.
The trial continues.
Sapa
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