Pictures of blood-stained Pistorius shown at murder trial

Police photographs of Oscar Pistorius on his blood-stained prosthetic legs and wearing shorts covered in blood, taken shortly after he fatally shot his girlfriend, have been shown to his murder trial.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Mar 2014, 16:57 BST

Prosecutors displayed two photos on TV monitors in the courtroom, with the first of the muscled double-amputee standing facing a camera. There are blood stains up to the knees of his limbs and his shorts are also bloodied, but his naked chest appears to be clean of blood.

A second photograph of Pistorius from the waist up and from the left side also shows blood on his shorts and parts of his body, with a tattoo visible on his back.

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The photographs were taken in Pistorius’s Pretoria home soon after he killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year, a former policeman testified. Pistorius says he carried Ms Steenkamp downstairs to try to save her after mistakenly shooting her in his bathroom.

Former policeman GS van Rensburg described the early part of the investigation after he arrived at the scene around 30 to 40 minutes after prosecutors say Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp in the pre-dawn hours of February 14, 2013.

The prosecution says Pistorius intentionally killed Ms Steenkamp in the upstairs bathroom after a loud argument and then tried to cover it up by saying he thought the 29-year-old model was an intruder. Pistorius, 27, maintains the killing was an accident and has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Mr van Rensburg, the former commander at a police station close to Pistorius’s home, said he did not arrest Pistorius immediately, but did warn him to remain at the house. “I told him I observed him as a suspect at that stage,” Mr van Rensburg said. “I warned him of his rights... I requested him to remain present at all times at the scene.”

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Mr van Rensburg said Pistorius was earlier “very emotional”, and that the runner’s brother and sister, Carl and Aimee, and a lawyer later arrived at the house.

A close-up photograph of the toilet inside the cubicle where Ms Steenkamp was shot three times, once in the head, was also displayed. It showed an extensive blood smear on the rim, as well as thick blood streaks in the bowl.

The trial continues.