Pistorius Argued With Girlfriend Before Shots: Prosecutor

Story by Bloomberg
By Andres R. Martinez & Franz Wild

Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee track star, argued with girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp before shooting her dead and investigators found testosterone and needles at his home, prosecutors said.

Pistorius, 26, lowered his face as lead police investigator Hilton Botha today contested his affidavit that he thought Steenkamp was a burglar when he fired four shots at the toilet on Feb. 14. Pistorius and Steenkamp, 29, had argued between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., prosecutor Gerrie Nel said in court, citing a witness. The call for an ambulance was made at 3:20 a.m., defense attorney Barry Roux said.

The testimony was presented to South African magistrate Desmond Nair on a second day of a bail hearing in Pretoria before Pistorius’s trial for premeditated murder. Botha told the court he found two boxes of testosterone and needles at Pistorius’s home in the city. Roux said it was an herbal remedy used by many athletes. The hearing resumes tomorrow.

Pistorius, dubbed the ‘‘Blade Runner’’ because of his prosthetic running blades, faces a maximum term of life in prison if found guilty of the charge, according to Nair. The prosecution will add a charge of possession of unlicensed ammunition, Nel said, after Botha found .38 caliber ammunition in a safe at his home. The bullets belong to Pistorius’s father, Roux said.

Screams, Shots

The lights in the house were on when a witness heard gun shots, followed by screams and another two or three shots, Botha said. The witness was about 600 meters (650 yards) away and didn’t identify Pistorius and Steenkamp as those speaking.

Because of the layout of the bathroom, the shots fired couldn’t have hit Steenkamp where she was sitting if he had been shooting through the toilet door as Pistorius testified, Nel said.

“If you walk in directly and fire at the door, you miss the toilet,” Nel said. Pistorius’s shots hit Steenkamp above the ear, the right elbow and the right hip, Botha said.

Pistorius said in an affidavit read out in court yesterday Steenkamp was doing yoga exercises and he was watching TV on his bed the night before the shooting.

In the early hours of the morning, Pistorius went to get a fan on his bedroom balcony and heard a noise in the bathroom. He went to get his 9 mm pistol because he thought Steenkamp was in bed and the person was an intruder who entered through an open window.

‘Grave Danger’

Walking on his stumps, he shot through the door before realizing it could have been Steenkamp, he said.

“I believed that when the intruder came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger,” Pistorius said in an affidavit. “I felt trapped as my bedroom was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps.”

Pistorius said he broke through the door with a cricket bat after realizing it may have been Steenkamp, and carried her body downstairs to seek help. Police found a blood-spattered cricket bat by the sink, Botha said.

The position of the bullet holes indicates Pistorius was shooting in a downward trajectory, suggesting he had already put on his prosthetic limbs, Botha said.

While Pistorius yesterday said he had previously been the victim of crime, he had never reported any incidents, Botha said.

Flash Drive

Pistorius’s brother and lawyer came to the house after Botha had arrived at 4.15 a.m. to get documents and a flash drive containing information of off-shore bank accounts, the policeman said.

The athlete earns 5.6 million rand ($630,000) a year, has investments of 1 million rand and property worth more than 8 million rand, according to his affidavit.

The state considers Pistorius a flight risk and opposes bail, Botha said.

Pistorius, who was born without fibulas and had both legs amputated below the knee at 11 months old, won six Paralympic gold medals. He became the first amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Games in London last year and was included on Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most-influential people.