A forensic analyst has reconstructed in court the moment Oscar Pistorius broke down his bullet-ridden toilet door after shooting Reeva Steenkamp.
Forensic analyst Colonel Johannes Vermeulen lifted the bat to show where it hit the wooden door, which was erected in the Pretoria court along with a recreation of the cubicle.
Four holes could be seen spread widely on the door – one very high, two above and below the handle and a fourth below the middle.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel spent a prolonged period assessing measurements of Col Vermeulen’s shoulder height while he demonstrated which position he believed Pistorius would have adopted when swinging the bat.
Mr Nel is trying to establish whether the Paralympian was on his stumps at the time as this would discredit his account which says he was wearing his prosthetic legs.
Key evidence: Forensic analyst Colonel Johannes Vermeulen stands in front of the toilet door through which Oscar Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp while holding the cricket bat the athlete then used to break it down.
Reconstruction: Colonel Johannes Vermeulen of the South African Police Service stands in court in front of the toilet door through which Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp.
Evidence: Colonel Vermeulen swings the cricket bat which he says was used by Pistorius to break down the toilet door after the Paralympian shot Miss Steenkamp.
Analysis: The height at which the bat struck the door is measured in court in an attempt by the prosecution to determine whether Pistorius was on his prosthetics at the time.
The double-amputee runner said he fired four times through the door in a bathroom at his home on February 14 last year fearing that the model was an intruder.
Prosecutors maintain Pistorius shot Steenkamp intentionally.
He faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison before parole if convicted on the murder charge.
Piecing it together: Col Vermeulen makes a swinging movement to indicate how the door was hit.
Measurements: The court is shown a picture which Col Vermeulen took at the time of his initial investigation a few weeks after Miss Steenkamp was shot on Valentine’s Day last year.
Detail: This image shows where the bat broke through the door in the weakest part of the panel.
The door has always been viewed as crucial evidence in the case and was removed from Pistorius’s home in the hours after he shot Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day morning.
It was kept by police but later taken back to Pistorius’s Pretoria villa with their permission last year so that forensic experts working for the Olympian could examine it.
In court, it was set up to the right of the room and was surrounded by a white border. Behind it, there was a recreation of the cubicle.
