AFP/Cape Town


South African Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius will be back in the dock tomorrow over the Valentine’s Day killing of his girlfriend, just days after graphic photos emerged of the blood-spattered crime scene.
Pistorius is due to appear in a Pretoria court for a pre-trial hearing but both the defence and prosecution expect the case to be swiftly adjourned while detectives pursue their investigation.
The 26-year-old ‘Blade Runner’ claims he shot his lover Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door in the early hours of February 14 after mistaking her for an intruder, and has assembled some of the best legal names in the country for his defence. But the prosecution argues it was premeditated murder, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Pistorius, who became an inspirational hero tomns as the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Olympics last year, is out on bail of 1mn rand ($99,000).
On Friday, Britain’s Sky News television released leaked images showing the bloodied bathroom of Pistorius’s luxury Pretoria home where 29-year-old Steenkamp was shot three times in the dead of night.
Lawyers for Pistorius have complained to the prosecution about the leaked pictures, which show blood stains on the toilet seat and surrounding floor and the door marked with two bullet holes just below the handle.
Police spokesman Phuti Setati said they did not know the source of the photos but that the leak would not jeopardise their case.
The position of the bullet holes appears to back Pistorius’s claim that he fired the shots while standing on his leg stumps, using a gun he kept under his bed.
He said he used a cricket bat to force open the door after realising he had mistakenly shot at Steenkamp - who suffered gunshot wounds to her head, elbow and hip - and then carried her downstairs to try to resuscitate her.
Pistorius is due to appear tomorrow in the Pretoria court in person, according to his lawyer Kenny Oldwage, although it is expected to be a brief hearing. “The case is not likely to go ahead. We will have a postponement,” said Oldwage.
The state has sought more time to wind up its investigations and hopes to finalise its case by August, although given the huge backlog of murder cases in one of the world’s most dangerous countries, the trial may not start for some time.
Pistorius’s arrest sent shockwaves throughout the world and brought his stellar career to an abrupt halt.
He lost lucrative contracts with US sportswear giant Nike and French cosmetic firm Clarins, among others, and has reportedly also been fined about 1mn rand for undeclared taxes.
His agent said last month that the star sprinter, nicknamed “Blade Runner” for his trademark carbon fibre prosthetic limbs, would not be racing this season as he had to focus on the court case and was not “mentally and physically ready” to compete at high level.
The announcement came even though a raft of stringent bail conditions, including a travel ban and mandatory drug and alcohol tests, were relaxed by the High Court in March.
Pistorius, who had been dating Steenkamp for only a few months, has described the shooting as a “horrible accident” and openly wept on his first day in court for bail hearings in February.
The hearings were marked by a series of embarrassments for the prosecution. Investigating officer Hilton Botha struggled to provide sufficient forensic evidence on the circumstances of the shooting and conceded he may have contaminated the crime scene.
He was also forced to retract crucial parts of the state’s evidence and it later emerged that he himself was facing charges of attempted murder for shooting at a minibus in 2011.
Botha was dropped from the case and has since quit the police force. A top investigator with a senior rank of lieutenant general has been assigned to lead the investigation.
Pistorius’s legal team also cast doubt on the testimony of key witnesses at the bail hearing, including a neighbour who claimed to have heard “non-stop fighting” from the house before the shooting.
His lawyers are planning to seek a lesser charge of culpable homicide. Extreme cases of culpable homicide, with proven negligence and recklessness in the killing, carry a maximum sentence of 15 years.