Pistorius trial: Toilet door set up in courtroom

By: 11 years ago

Oscar Pistorius hands a note to his defense team as he listens to cross questioning about the events surrounding the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in court during his trial in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, March 11, 2014. AP.

PRETORIA, South Africa—The brown, bullet-marked toilet door through which Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend was set up in the courtroom at the athlete’s murder trial Wednesday, suggesting prosecutors will attempt to recreate his shooting of Reeva Steenkamp a year ago for the judge.

Pistorius, lead defense lawyer Barry Roux and court officials gathered around the door ahead of the day’s proceedings, examining what appeared to be the bullet holes, which were apparently marked with white tags on the wood.

Pistorius, the world-famous double-amputee runner, is on trial for murder for firing four times through the door in a bathroom at his home on Feb. 14 last year, hitting Steenkamp three times and killing her. He says he shot her by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder hiding in the toilet cubicle and denies murder. Prosecutors maintain Pistorius shot Steenkamp intentionally. He faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison before parole if convicted on the murder charge.

The door has always been viewed as crucial evidence in the case, and was removed from Pistorius’ home in the hours after he shoot Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day morning in 2013. It was kept by police but also taken back to Pistorius’ Pretoria villa with their permission last year so that forensic experts working for the Olympian could do their own work on it.

In court, it was set up to the right of the room and was surrounded by a white border. Behind it, there was a recreation of the cubicle.

Darren Fresco, a one-time friend of Pistorius, was continuing his testimony at the start of the day Wednesday. Fresco testified Tuesday that he was with Pistorius on two occasions when the celebrated disabled runner shot guns in public in the six months before he killed Steenkamp.

Fresco said Pistorius fired without warning out of the sunroof of a moving car in September 2012 and then shot a gun by mistake under a table at a busy Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013—around a month before he killed Steenkamp.

Pistorius is charged with murder in Steenkamp’s shooting death and three other firearm-related offenses. He pleaded not guilty to all four charges and specifically denies he shot the gun out of the car, defense lawyer Roux said.