Reeva ‘was possibly reaching for door’

Forensic expert Roger Dixon said he drew this conclusion from the splinters that pierced Steenkamp’s right arm and waist area.

Pistorius, who has been charged with murdering Steenkamp, sat with his head in his hands, pressing his thumbs into his ears.

When he later raised his head, his face appeared red.

Dixon also analysed a picture of Steenkamp’s back which had wounds and abrasions.

He said the picture was taken after Steenkamp had been washed following her post-mortem.

“My interpretation was that… the deceased fell against a small blunt object,” said Dixon.

“The marks are consistent with falling onto the magazine rack.”

The brown, wooden magazine rack which had been in Pistorius’s bathroom on the morning he shot Steenkamp, was brought into court.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the locked toilet door of his Pretoria home. He says he mistook her for an intruder.

Pistorius has testified that after realising it could have been Steenkamp behind the door, he broke it down, using a cricket bat.

The State argued that the murder was premeditated.

Wrapping up his cross-examination earlier on Tuesday, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Steenkamp had run to the bathroom following an argument with Pistorius.

Nel said Pistorius had armed himself with the sole purpose to shoot.

Pistorius is also charged with three contraventions of the Firearms Control Act, on which he has also denied guilt.

Court was adjourned until Wednesday.

– Sapa