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| Oscar Pistorius puts his hands to his head as he listens to forensic evidence during his trial in court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday March 13, 2014. Pistorius is charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day in 2013. |
PRETORIA, South
Africa (AP) -- Blood on the stairs, walls and furniture, a cocked 9
mm pistol, bloody towels, fallen wall tiles. Like pieces of an
unfinished puzzle, the photos of the blood-splattered interior of Oscar
Pistorius' home gave a fragmented picture Thursday of his girlfriend's
violent end.
One of the first police officers
to arrive at the scene testified at the athlete's murder trial that he
followed a "trail of blood" when he got there.
Recounting
what he saw in macabre detail, former police colonel G.S. van Rensburg
said he traced spots and bigger blood marks downstairs where Reeva
Steenkamp lay dead from three gunshot wounds, then followed them across
the floor, up the stairs, through a small lounge area and into
Pistorius' bedroom.
Ultimately, he reached the
bathroom where the double-amputee Olympian shot his girlfriend in the
early hours of Valentine's Day last year.
There,
van Rensburg said he found Pistorius' gun, its hammer back and safety
off, lying on a mat. Nearby were spent bullet casings, cellphones and a
blood-soaked towel, as well as the cricket bat Pistorius says he used to
smash open the toilet door to get to the fatally wounded Steenkamp.
In the toilet cubicle, a dark pool of blood was on the floor as well as wooden splinters from the broken door.
The mat the gun lay on was clean, in glaring contrast to the blood stains all around it, head prosecutor Gerrie Nel noted.
The
27-year-old Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of
murder, and also faces three firearms charges. He has pleaded not guilty
and says he shot the 29-year-old model by mistake, believing she was an
intruder hiding in the toilet cubicle.
Prosecutors charge he intentionally shot Steenkamp after an argument.
Using
the photos, the prosecution created a detailed picture of the scene.
One showed a gun holster on the side of the bed where Pistorius says
Steenkamp was sleeping that night. The size of the bedroom suggested
Pistorius would have had to walk close to where he says he thought she
was still sleeping to get to the bathroom.
Pistorius
mostly kept his head down, avoiding the TV monitors where the images
were shown. The screen next to Pistorius was switched off before the
exhibit began.
Van Rensburg confirmed the
photos reflected how he found the scene just before 4 a.m., about half
an hour after prosecutors say Pistorius shot Steenkamp. The former
police officer said he had been on duty for about 24 hours by then,
dealing with other cases.
The photos showed
blood stains splattered on a white wall close to a group of trophies in
the Paralympic champion's home. Running on carbon-fiber blades,
Pistorius medaled repeatedly at the Paralympic games and also competed
at the London Olympics, but didn't win a medal.
Photos
of the bathroom showed broken wall tiles on the floor and a metal panel
that had been damaged, apparently after being hit by a hard object.
There
was an air gun and a baseball bat near the door to Pistorius' bedroom.
Pictures of the bedroom showed a cabinet with multiple pairs of
sunglasses and a blood-smeared box of watches, as well as blood stains
on the carpets.
Van Rensburg described how, on
arriving at Pistorius' house, he saw Steenkamp's body near the entrance
covered in towels and plastic bags that the daughter of the estate
manager said she had used, with assistance from Pistorius, to try to
stop the bleeding.
Pistorius was pacing in the kitchen, van Rensburg said.
"I asked him what happened but he didn't answer me," the former police officer said. "He was in tears."
"We then followed the trail of blood up the stairs."
