Reeva Steenkamp standing in toilet as Oscar Pistorius opened fire, court hears

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/reeva-steenkamp-standing-toilet-oscar-pistorius-fire

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Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend was standing in a toilet cubicle facing the locked door when she was hit in the right hip by the first of four bullets fired by the Paralympic athlete, a ballistics expert testified on Wednesday.

The widely-watched murder trial in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, also heard that Pistorius looked at pornographic and car websites on his iPad the night before he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.

The sprinter, known as the "blade runner" because of his carbon-fibre prosthetic limbs, faces a possible life sentence if convicted. He insists that the killing was accidental because he mistook the model and law graduate for an intruder.

Police ballistics expert Chris Mangena told the court that the first shot broke Steenkamp's right hip bone. "The best probable explanation is the deceased was initially upright behind the closed door; she sustained a penetrating wound in the right side of the hip," he said. "I'm of the opinion that after this wound was inflicted, she dropped immediately."

Steenkamp then slumped into a "seated or semi-seated position" on top of a magazine rack in the cubicle. The second bullet missed her and ricocheted off the wall and broke into fragments, bruising her back, Mangena said.

With her arms crossed over her head to protect herself, Steenkamp was then hit in her right arm and in the head by the third and fourth shots fired by Pistorius with his 9mm pistol, he said. She collapsed with her head on the toilet seat.

"The deceased was seated in a defensive position," Mangena testified. "The arm was lifted up, and was in front of her chest... Reeva must have had both hands covering her head protectively. The last bullet hit her on the head, breaking the skull."

The bullet that struck Steenkamp's skull broke into two fragments, one of which exited her head and struck the wall behind her, he continued.

Pistorius plugged his ears with his fingers as the graphic account was given.

The ballistics report appeared to support earlier witness testimony that Steenkamp had time to scream before she died and undermine the defence's version that she could not have made a noise. The first witness at the trial, Pistorius's neighbour Michelle Burger, testified to having heard "bloodcurdling screams" before four shots went off.

The ballistics report also appeared to support Burger's account of a pause between the first and second shots.

Mangena said Pistorius fired from a distance of at least 60 centimetres and no further than a wall behind him, about three metres away. He added that Pistorius was probably on his stumps when he fired, supporting the athlete's original defence statement.

He also described the impact of the type of bullets in Pistorius's gun, which were designed to cause maximum damage. "It hits the target, it opens up, it creates six talons, and these talons are sharp. It cuts through the organs of a human being."

Another witness, colonel Mike Sales, investigated the web history on two iPad tablets found in Pistorius's home. He analysed the activity on one of the devices hours before Steenkamp was killed, he said.

According to records shown on TV monitors in court, a search was made on Google for a pornographic website. Then a page was accessed that was described with the words "Mobile Porn, Free Mobile Porn, iPhone Porn, Phone Porn, iPad Porn".

Other web searches referred to car sites and details on cars, including a Ford Ranger SUV, an Aston Martin and a British-made Morgan sports car.

Sales said the searches and website history on the second iPad showed similar records to the first.

The trial was adjourned until Monday. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that the state would be ready to rest its case next week, bringing closer the moment when Pistorius will take the stand as a witness.