Pictures of scene show evidence was moved, lawyer tells Pistorius murder trial

Warrant Officer Bennie van Staden took hundreds of photos of the scene, including of blood marks, bullet casings, a gun and a cricket bat found inside Pistorius’s bathroom in the hours after the double-amputee athlete killed Reeva Steenkamp before dawn on February 14 last year.

Chief defence lawyer Barry Roux has challenged previous police witnesses at the High Court in Pretoria, seeking to uncover contradictions and reported mishaps to support his argument that officers bungled the investigation.

He asked Mr van Staden to explain differences in photographs of the 9mm pistol that Pistorius used to shoot Ms Steenkamp through a closed toilet door, and of a cricket bat that the Paralympian used to hit the door.

“It seems there was movement of the bat” in the interval between two photos taken by Mr van Staden, Mr Roux said. “It seems like that,” Mr van Staden conceded.

The police photographer also acknowledged that two pictures of the gun indicated that a mat underneath it could have been shifted.

Mr Roux said one photo also differed from the other because it showed a wooden splinter on the gun handle, and he questioned Mr van Staden’s statement that he remembered being alone while taking photographs.

“Are you sure that you were alone up there?” Mr Roux asked, citing timelines from the photos of another officer as evidence that they were in the same area at the same time.

“There was a great overlap early in the morning... You were together in the bathroom, sometimes together in the bedroom.”

Mr van Staden said he was sure that he was alone.

Prosecutors say Pistorius killed Ms Steenkamp after an argument. He has denied murder and the trial continues.