Pistorius waits for bail decision

Feb 21 2013

A decision on whether Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius will be granted bail is due to be made.

The bail hearing will enter its third day at a packed courtroom in Pretoria, South Africa, where details of the murder case against the athlete have emerged since Tuesday.

On Wednesday the court was told a witness heard "non-stop shouting" coming from his home before he shot his girlfriend dead.

The witness overheard the "row" which is said to have come from the property at the exclusive Silver Lakes Golf Estate between 2am and 3am on Valentine's Day, the prosecution said.

Shortly afterwards, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, lay bleeding to death in Pistorius's bathroom. She was hit by three bullets - one in the head, the hip and arm, Pretoria Magistrates' Court heard.

One witness reported hearing a shot, followed 17 minutes later by more shots, lead detective Hilton Botha said. "One of our witnesses heard a fight, two people talking loudly at each other... from two in the morning to three," he said, adding that the witness was about 1,000ft away.

Pistorius has admitted shooting the model with a 9mm pistol pulled from under his bed, but claims he did so thinking she was a burglar or burglars, who were in the bathroom. He adds that he opened fire in the dark because he was too scared to turn a light on. Realising his mistake, he broke the door down with a cricket bat and carried her downstairs, he said.

Mr Botha said there was "no way" he believed Pistorius's version of events and a witness told police Pistorius's lights were on after hearing gunshots.

The runner has said he shot through the door while on his stumps. But the court heard the bullets' trajectory was through the top of the door and Mr Botha claims the bullets were fired down, suggesting Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs when the shots were discharged.

The prosecution believe Pistorius, who won two gold medals and a silver at London's 2012 Paralympic Games, is a flight risk and is opposing bail.