Oscar Pistorius Trail: Takes Another Turn

A ballistics expert at the murder trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has questioned the state’s version of how he shot his girlfriend.

Defence witness Tom Wolmarans says wounds show Reeva Steenkamp may have been standing when first shot.

The double-amputee Paralympian denies intentionally shooting Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.

The prosecution alleges he shot her dead after a row and that she was cowering from him in the toilet.

He says he accidentally shot her through the toilet door in a state of panic, mistaking the 29-year-old model and law graduate for an intruder.

Wolmarans, a former police officer, says all four shots hit Steenkamp.

The state alleges one missed and ricocheted off a wall and injured her back and that the final bullet hit her hand and head as she was sitting in a defensive position.

But Wolmarans said splinter evidence showed the model was leaning forward towards the door when the first bullet hit her hip.

The next bullet hit her arm, the third bullet her hand and the last bullet hit her head as she was falling backwards, he said.

On Thursday the court heard evidence about when Steenkamp may have eaten her last meal.

An anesthetist, Prof Christina Lundgren, described when a stomach is likely to be emptied after eating.

She said the prosecution’s argument that Steenkamp’s stomach would have been empty if she had eaten when Mr Pistorius said she had done was “pure speculation”.

Social worker Yvette van Schalkwyk, who also gave evidence on Thursday, said Mr Pistorius was “heartbroken” after the killing.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Pistorius, 27, has sold his home in the Silverwoods Estate where Ms Steenkamp died.

He put the house on the market at the end of March in order to fund his legal costs, one of his lawyers said at the time.

An estate agent confirmed to South Africa’s Beeld newspaper that a sale was under way.

The trial started at the beginning of March and was expected to last five weeks. The defence has said that it hopes to wrap up its case by May 16.

If found guilty, Pistorius – a national sporting hero dubbed the “blade runner” because of the prosthetic limbs he wears to race – could face life imprisonment.

If he is acquitted of murder, the court must consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for which he could receive about 15 years in prison.

There are no juries at trials in South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.