Pistorius murder trial show photos of gun on blood-stained floor

One of the first two police officers to arrive at the house to investigate the shooting testified that he followed a “trail of blood” when he got there.

Former police colonel GS van Rensburg said he traced spots and bigger blood marks downstairs where Ms Steenkamp lay dead from three gunshot wounds and followed them across the floor, up the stairs, through a small lounge area and then into Pistorius’s bedroom. Mr van Rensburg told how he then finally reached the bathroom where the athlete shot his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year.

There, Mr van Rensburg said he found Pistorius’s gun, hammer back and the safety off, on a mat. There were also spent bullet casings, mobile phones and a blood-soaked towel on the bathroom floor, and the cricket bat Pistorius says he used to break down the toilet door. In the toilet cubicle, there was a darker pool of blood and wooden splinters where the locked door, through which Pistorius shot the model, had been bashed through.

Pistorius, 27, faces a possible life sentence if convicted of murder. He denies all charges and says he shot the 29-year-old by mistake, thinking she was an intruder.

Details in the photos were highlighted by the prosecution as part of their case. One was a gun holster on the side of the bed where Pistorius says Ms Steenkamp, and not him, was sleeping that night. The gun rested on a small towel that was clean and out of kilter with the blood stains around it, head prosecutor Gerrie Nel noted.

The size of the bedroom suggested Pistorius had to walk close to where he says he thought Ms Steenkamp was still sleeping to get to the bathroom.

The trial continues.