By
Simon Tomlinson
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Oscar Pistorius was in the process of buying seven guns at the time he killed his girlfriend, his murder trial heard today.
Gun licenser Sean Rens testified that the Paralympian had placed an order for three shotguns, two revolvers, semi-automatic assault rifle and another self-loading rifle.
Mr Rens, the manager of the International Firearm Training Academy, produced one invoice that included five of the guns and nearly 600 rounds of ammunition.
That total price came to nearly $5,000 (£3,000) of which Pistorius had already paid around $4,500 (£2,700) of the bill, the invoice showed.
The remaining two guns were contained on a second invoice, the firearm dealer said.
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Scene of horror: This picture taken in the bathroom shows the cocked 9mm pistol Pistorius used to killed Miss Steenkamp lying on bathmat (top left) alongside the cricket bat and blood-covered towel
Macabre: This picture was taken by police around three hours after Pistorius shot his girlfriend
Splatter: Pistorius says he used the cricket bat to break down the toilet door to get to his girlfriend after shooting her, he claims, by mistake fearing that she was an intruder
Graphic: Blood covers signatures on the bat including that of South African cricket star Herschelle Gibbs
The entire order was cancelled a month after shot Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.
Mr Rens
also testified that Pistorius had once described how he drew his gun
and went into ‘combat mode’ after hearing a possible intruder at his
home months before the shooting.
The noise turned out to be a washing machine, the High Court in Pretoria heard.
Mr said he had many conversations about firearms with Pistorius, who he claimed had ‘a great love and enthusiasm’ for guns.
Mr Rens said he met Pistorius in 2012, trained in a gun range with him and that the runner was seeking to collect guns.
Grim: The bloodied towel can been in the top right of this picture taken as you come into the bathroom
In one conversation, Pistorius described how he was startled by a noise at home and decided to clear the house by drawing his gun and checking rooms, according to Mr Rens.
‘He went into what we call “code red” or combat mode,’ he said. ‘When he came to the source of the noise, it was the laundry or something.’
Pistorius had tweeted about the incident in November 2012: ‘Nothing like getting home to hear the washing machine on and thinking its (sic) an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry!’
The tweet was later deleted from his account.
Pistorius said he killed Miss Steenkamp by accident before dawn on February 14, 2013, shooting her through a closed toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.
Prosecutors say he killed her intentionally after an argument.
‘Had a great love and enthusiasm for firearms’: An air rifle stands next to a cabinet near the runner’s bedroom
Passion for guns’: The air rifle was next to a cabinet containing the athlete’s running shoes and sunglasses
Mr Rens also read out a gun licence test passed by the track athlete.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked Mr Rens to
describe how Pistorius was quizzed on how to handle a firearm in
various scenarios, for example when two unidentified men approach the
house of a gun owner; then when they break into the house, begin to
steal belongings and order the gun owner to leave; and if the men
threaten to kill the gun owner, who is behind a security gate in the
house.
In each case, Mr Rens said, Pistorius correctly answered ‘no’ when asked if it was OK to fire at the men.
He correctly said he was only entitled to shoot at them if they advanced on him with a gun, according to Mr Rens.
Pistorius also made clear that a gun-owner should never shoot unless he was knew what he was shooting at, and what lay behind the target.
‘Know your target and what lies beyond,’ Mr Rens said, quoting Pistorius’s answer.
The prosecution was trying to show that was aware of firearms and self-defence laws that say you cannot shoot at an intruder unless your life is in danger.
Pistorius says he fired because he thought he was under threat.
Mr
Rens said he was introduced to Pistorius in May 2012, a few months
before the runner made history by competing at the London Olympics.
Drenched: The court was shown more detailed images of the blood smeared over the Paralympian’s shorts and prosthetic legs as a police photographer guided the trial through his sequence of images
Shocking: Reeva Steenkamp’s blood can be seen all over the double-amputee’s prosthetic legs and socks
Covered: The image shows blood on the back of the Paralympian’s false legs shortly after the shooting
Damaged: This picture shows unexplained scuff marks on his bloodied prosthetic limbs
Aftermath of the killing: This picture of Oscar Pistorius, bare-chested and covered in blood from the waist down, was taken by police shortly after the Paralympian shot Reeva Steenkamp at his home
Shocking: Blood can be seen down the athlete’s left arm and on his shorts apparently from when he carried his dead girlfriend down the stairs after shooting her in the bathroom
Pistorius wanted Mr Rens to find a ‘specific’ gun for him, Rens testified, a Smith Wesson 500 revolver handgun.
Rens also listed five other guns Pistorius was hoping to procure under a collector’s license.
They were a .38-caliber Smith Wesson revolver, the civilian version of a Vector .223-caliber assault rifle used by South African police, another self-loading semi-automatic rifle and three shotguns – a Mossberg Maverick, a Winchester and a Carbine gun.
Pistorius
applied to the South African police’s National Firearms Centre for
licenses to own these guns on January 22, 2013, according to the
center’s records, just three weeks before he shot dead Miss Steenkamp in
his home using his 9mm Parabellum pistol, the only gun he was licensed
to have at the time, for self-defence.
Protection: A gun holster (top middle) was found next to the athlete’s bed when police arrived at the scene
Ammunition: A gun magazine and pouch that was reportedly found on the bedside table
Police found this box with the label ‘Coenzyme compositum’ as well as syringes and needles, the trial heard
In
later testimony today, police photographer Bennie van Staden spoke
about the images he took when he arrived at Pistorius’s house on the
night of the killing.
One photograph of the runner, taken in his garage,
showed unexplained scuff marks on his bloodied prosthetic limbs.
Another photograph from the Paralympian’s bedroom showed a box with a label that said ‘Testis compositum.’
Strain: Pistorius holds his head in his hands as the court is shown graphic images of blood trails in his house
Stress: A police photographer spent most of the morning leading the court through horrific images of the scene
Collector: The trial heard that Pistorius was in the process of buying six guns at the time he killed his girlfriend
Emotional: The runner wipes his eye while looking at crime scene photographs during the trial
The runner’s representatives have identified the substance as an herbal remedy used for ‘muscle recovery.’
A product by that name also is sold as a sexual enhancer.
Testis
compositum is marketed by some online retailers in both oral and
injectable forms as a testosterone booster and sexual performance aid
that contains the testicles, heart and embryo of pigs, among other
ingredients. Some retailers also say it can be used to treat fatigue.
Also found in the bedroom was a box with the label ‘Coenzyme compositum’ as well as syringes and needles.
Too much to bear: Pistorius takes notes (left), while Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June (right), leaves as the court starts looking at the crime scene photographs of her daughter’s death
Grief-stricken: June Steenkamp (centre), wearing a picture of her daughter on her jacket, leaves the trial when graphic crime scene photographs are shown to the court
Steely gaze: June Steenkamp stares at Pistorius as he makes hi way into the dock at the start of day eleven
Bridging barriers: Pistorius’s sister Aimee (right) chats to Reeva’s mother, June (left), in the court
Steenkamp’s
mother, June, was in the Pretoria courtroom for a second time, but had
left by the time van Staden was describing the photos being displayed of
the bloody bathroom scene where her daughter was shot.
June Steenkamp last attended the trial on the opening day on March 3.
Last
week, the court was shown dramatic pictures of a bare-chested Pistorius
with blood smeared all over his shorts and prosthetic legs shortly
after he killed his girlfriend.
The
first police officers on the scene said they found the Paralympian
pacing around in a ‘very emotional state’ and a grisly trail of blood
that ran throughout the house.
The
images were taken by police photographers in the garage in the
aftermath of the shooting in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last
year.
Horrific: Blood is splattered all over the toilet where Miss Steenkamp was shot by Pistorius
Sickening: A substantial amount of blood was found in the toilet bowl. The trial was expected to examine whether Miss Steenkamp was sitting on the toilet at the time she was shot
In one, the muscular Olympic sprinter, who is shirtless, is standing facing the camera wearing his prosthetics.
There are blood stains up to the knees of his limbs and his shorts are also bloodied, but his naked chest appears to be clean.
A second photograph shows Pistorius
from the waist up and from the left side, also showing blood on his
shorts and parts of his body, with a tattoo visible on his back.
His left arm is smeared with blood and his hand is clenched.
The
court was guided through the images by
former police colonel Schoombie van Rensburg arrived at the house around
40 minutes after the shooting.
Grim: The court was shown this picture of the 9mm pistol used to kill Miss Steenkamp as it was found by the first police officer on the scene. The hammer was still cocked with the safety catch removed, the trial heard
Evidence: This picture of Pistorius’s blood-stained prosthetic legs was used by his defense lawyer in a bid to show that the athlete was wearing them, as he says, when he broke down the toilet door with a cricket bat
They included the blood-spattered toilet cubicle where Miss Steenkamp was shot.
A
close-up photograph of the toilet showed an extensive blood smear on
the rim, as well as thick blood streaks in the bowl, where the water was
also dark with blood.
Once
again a picture of the 29-year-old model’s bullet wounds was
accidentally flashed up on screens in the courtroom before the monitors
went black.
A similar blunder yesterday caused Pistorius to be sick in the dock.
Mr
van Rensburg, the former commander at a police station close to
Pistorius’s home, said he did not arrest Pistorius immediately after
discovering Miss Steenkamp had been shot dead, but did warn him to
remain at the house.
‘I told him I observed him as a suspect at that stage,’ Mr van Rensburg said.
‘I
warned him of his rights. I said to him I wasn’t arresting him at that
stage… I requested him to remain present at all times at the scene.’
A short time later, Mr van Rensburg said the runner’s brother Carl, sister Aimee and a lawyer arrived at the house.
Graphic: The cricket bat Pistorius says he used to break down the toilet door after he shot Miss Steenkamp is seen next to a blood-soaked towel on the bathroom floor
Crime scene: This image shows the bathroom where Pistorius fired the fatal shots and the toilet in the background where Miss Steenkamp was hit by three bullets
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Barry Roux sought to undermine the police investigation, notably by questioning the conduct of former investigating officer
Hilton Botha, who was thrown off the case last year and resigned from
the police force.
Mr Roux repeatedly asked Mr van Rensburg what Mr Botha was
doing at the scene during different parts of the investigation.
Botha
admitted last year that he didn’t wear proper forensic clothing and shoe
covers when he examined parts of the scene and Pistorius’s team
believes the police disturbed evidence and may have tampered with it.
‘You
did not disturb anything in the bathroom? You did not see Mr Hilton
Botha disturb anything in the bathroom?’ Roux asked Mr van Rensburg.
‘Were
you acutely aware that you should not disturb the scene? Did you have
that awareness? And what was Mr Botha doing?’ Mr Roux asked a little
later.
And again, Roux said: ‘Where was Mr Botha now?’ Van Rensburg said at points he did not know where Botha was.
Expensive: This box of watches was found in the bedroom with blood smeared on the lid. Police estimated that the value of one them was around $10,000 (£6,000). A probe was ordered after one went missing
Temptation: The box of watches can been seen on the side in the bedroom. One of the watches was stolen by police investigating the shooting, the trial heard
Macabre: The court was shown various images like this of the bloodstains that ran through the house
During
the investigation in the bathroom, Mr van Rensburg also said that he
turned around at one point to see that the firearms expert had handled
the gun Pistorius used to kill Miss Steenkamp and taken the magazine out
of the weapon without using gloves.
‘I asked him “what are you doing?”,’ Mr van Rensburg testified.
The
officer realised his error, apologised, put the magazine back in the
gun and laid it on the mat where it was on the floor, Mr van Rensburg
said.
He then took the gloves out of his chest pocket, and again picked up the gun, according to Mr van Rensburg.
‘I was very angry,’ he said.
Mr
van Rensburg also testified today about eight expensive watches that
were found in a blood-spattered box in the bedroom upstairs.
Gruesome: Blood is seen smeared down the toilet wall in this crime scene photograph
Start of the trail: The first police officer on the scene said he traced spots and bigger blood marks downstairs (pictured) where Miss Steenkamp lay dead from three gunshot wounds
He said he warned fellow officers
that they should be monitored closely because they could be tempting to
anyone moving through the crime scene.
Pistorius’s sister asked if she could take one of the watches, leaving seven in place, he said.
But
Mr van Rensburg said another went missing while he was out of the room,
prompting him to order the frisking of all the police forensic experts
on the scene, as well as a search of their bags and vehicles, and the
entire house.
Mr van
Rensburg, who recalled that one of the officers had estimated the cost
of the watch at close to $10,000 (£6,000), said he then opened a case of
theft after the watch was not found.
Later, he said, Pistorius’s brother, Carl, asked if he could take the watches.
Doubt: Pathologist Gert Saayman said the partially digested vegetables he found in the model’s stomach suggested Miss Steenkamp (pictured) had food less than two hours before her death at around 3am
Scene: Pistorius shot Miss Steenkamp through the bathroom door at his home (above) in Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year
Mr
van Rensburg said he would instead hand the watches directly to Oscar
Pistorius, but without the box, which was still being analysed.
While doing so, he asked Pistorius to inform him if anything else went missing, but nothing else was reported stolen.
Meanwhile, Mr van Rensburg revealed that some media had offered up to $5,500 (£3,300) just for a picture of the toilet door.
He said the
door was placed in a plastic ‘body bag’ and transported to a
police station, where van Rensburg said he stored it in his office
because it was too big to fit in an area normally reserved for evidence
from crime scenes.
The trial continues.
Comments (12)
Share what you think
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
kittykat,
Johannesburg, South Africa,
2 hours ago
That door really must have been threatening him – was it armed?
Yellow Canary,
Norwich, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
I doubt whether he intended to kill her but rather the was out of control when it came to guns and his behaviour
abake,
Lagos, Nigeria,
2 hours ago
hmmmmm!
a-baker,
London,
2 hours ago
If the police are stealing his watch and handling evidence without gloves it doesn’t really bode well for forensic integrity does it
Robert,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
A big question is why were there spatterings of blood on the wall behind the bed, well away from the bathroom?
chewbacca,
planet Endor,
3 hours ago
This guy should beg for forgiveness to her parents … He pulled the trigger and she’s now dead ..
Auld Nick,
Dundee,
3 hours ago
Whatever happened he does have to do some time.You just don’t go round shooting folk through doors.
Kenneth Williams,
Oklahoma, United States,
3 hours ago
Six guns? That’s not an arsenal. That’s your average rural resident.
Annabelle,
Bedfordshire, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
What I don’t understand is this: If you are woken up by a noise in the night, the first thing you do is turn to your wife/husband/partner and say “What’s that noise? Did you hear that?”. You don’t grab a gun and start shooting without so much as a glance to see where your partner is. And if they’re not in bed, you call them and find out where they are. It doesn’t make any sense.
Rachel,
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
If this was an ordinary trial, those crime scene photos would not be made public. This was always going to be a very high-profile trial, but now it’s getting ridiculous! There is no need for all these images of Pistorius in court, his family, Reeva’s family, the crime scene photos on the screens in court, etc, etc.
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Oscar"s bid for gun arsenal is revealed as court is shown bloody scene where he shot Reeva
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