Avatar photo

By Citizen Reporter

Journalist


Scrutiny of toilet door likely to continue – Oscar Trial

The door through which Oscar Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp is likely to remain under scrutiny as the paralympic athlete's murder trial enters its ninth day on Thursday.


The door and the replica of the cubicle, complete with a toilet, cistern, and magazine rack, was still set up next to the witness box in court GD of the High Court in Pretoria.

Four bullet holes in the door are clustered on the right side of the door, just under the keyhole. The toilet is to the left of the door.

The State is arguing that Pistorius was on his stumps when he shot through the door and when he tried to break it down with a cricket bat to get to a dying Steenkamp.

His defence is arguing he was on his stumps when he fired the shots and put on his prostheses to smash open the door with the bat. Pistorius claims he thought Steenkamp was an intruder.

On Wednesday Colonel Johannes Vermeulen testified about the marks made in the door by the bat. Vermeulen is the commander of the material analysis sub-section at the forensic science laboratory.

He told the court he had more than 29 years of experience in scientific analysis and had completed almost 1400 forensic investigations.

Pistorius is accused of the murder of model and law graduate Steenkamp in his home on February 14 last year.

He is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two counts of discharging a firearm in public.

He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.

On September 30, 2012 he allegedly fired his 9mm pistol through the open sunroof of a car while driving with friends in Modderfontein.

Sapa

Read more on these topics

Oscar Pistorius Oscar Trial Reeva Steenkamp

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.