Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial Wednesday focused on a recreation of the bathroom where his girlfriend was shot, including the exact door Pistorius shot through, the cricket bat he said he swung at the door and a model of the toilet she sat on.
Pistorius said in an affidavit last year that he shot through the bathroom door at what he thought was an intruder, without wearing his prosthetic legs on Valentine’s Day 2013.
He then realized he may have shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, put on his prosthetic legs, tried to kick down the locked door and then bashed open the door with a cricket bat to find Steenkamp inside.
On Wednesday, forensic analyst Col. J.G. Vermeulen took the cricket bat and swung it at the door while on his knees during testimony inside a Pretoria, South Africa, court room.
Vermeulen said he believed Pistorius, the first double amputee to run in the Olympics in 2012, was not using his prosthetic legs when he swung the bat at his bathroom door on the early morning of Valentine’s Day 2013.
That contradicted Pistorius, who said in his affidavit last year that he was wearing prosthetic legs at the time.
“I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open,” Pistorius said in a statement. “I think I must then have turned on the lights. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door.”
Pistorius’ defense said Wednesday that he swung the bat at the door with his prosthetic legs on and with a bent back.
Pistorius could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He shot four times through the bathroom door, hitting Steenkamp inside.
The prosecution asserts Pistorius shot through the door after an argument with Steenkamp. Pistorius has said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder.
The trial is expected to resume at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Here’s NBC News’ coverage of the Pistorius trial.
And here it is - the door, the four bullet holes as visible as white dots below the handle. pic.twitter.com/jYD0soIO9Z
— Aislinn Laing (@Simmoa) March 12, 2014
#OscarPistorius the cubicle. BB pic.twitter.com/0D5Pz1Vlxk
— Barry Bateman (@barrybateman) March 12, 2014
