Toilet door key to Oscar defence

Reeva Steenkamp was sitting on this toilet when she was shot, according to police. Source: Getty Images

AS Oscar Pistorius waits to be tried for murder, investigators in the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp are focusing on a crucial piece of evidence - the toilet door through which she was shot.

Its role in the inquiry was revealed by a top forensic expert hired by the runner's defence team.

Durban crime scene investigator Reggie Perumal, who spoke out in a newspaper interview, also warned that careless crime scene investigations were the cause of many miscarriages of justice in South Africa.

Four bullets were fired through the toilet door in the early hours of Valentine's Day. Steenkamp - who was in the toilet - was hit three times and died of her wounds.

Pistorius - the double amputee Olympic sprinter known as the Blade Runner - has been charged with her murder.  He faces life imprisonment if convicted.

A police officer holds a gun allegedly used in the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.

Prosecutors say the pair had an argument before Steenkamp, 29, was killed. Pistorius, 26, says he mistook her for an intruder and shot her accidentally.

The toilet door was removed by police before Pistorius's defence team had the chance to examine the crime scene.

"It is critical that we examine this door so that we can see the trajectory of the bullets and establish exactly where she was in the toilet when she was shot," Mr Perumal told the Cape Times newspaper.

In his affidavit at his bail hearing, Pistorius said he did not have his prosthetic legs on when he fired the shots. The angle of trajectory is thus a key issue of the case.

"Next to the post mortem results, this is the most crucial information needed," Mr Perumal said.

Mr Perumal also assessed the crime scene. It was he who, after seeing a mark on the toilet wall, realised that a spent bullet was in the toilet bowl and suggested it be retrieved.

"A lot of injustices are done in criminal cases because of improper crime scene investigation," he said.

Mr Perumal also told how blood markings in the house supported Pistorius's story of where he picked her body up and carried it downstairs.

The police investigation of the scene at came under fire during the Pistorius's bail hearing last week.

Chief investigator Hilton Botha made a series of blunders during his evidence,  as he misjudged distances and said testosterone - banned for professional athletes in some cases - was found at the scene, only to be later contradicted by the prosecutor's office.

Police, Botha acknowledged, left a 9 mm slug from the barrage inside a toilet and lost track of illegal ammunition found inside the house.

Botha was removed from the case after it was revealed he was he is facing seven attempted murder charges over a 2010 incident when shots were fired at a minibus.

Oscar Pistorius during his bail hearing. He was released after four days of arguments in court.

Pistorius has been bailed until his next scheduled court appearance in June.

As he waits, there have been conflicting reports about the Olympic sprinter wanting to resume athletic training while on bail.

A government official said the Olympian had told his probation officer he wanted to get back on the track.

A spokeswoman for the Olympic runner, however, denied that he was making immediate plans to return to running while awaiting trial.

"Absolutely not,'' said spokeswoman Janine Hills. "He is currently in mourning and his focus is not on his sports.''

The double-amputee Paralympian discussed bail terms with his probation officer and a correctional official at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court in the capital, according to correctional officials.

"It's his wish to continue to practice,'' James Smalberger, chief deputy commissioner of the department of correctional services, said.

Reeva Steenkamp poses on set during the shooting of the reality show Tropika Island of Treasure which premieres on state television Saturday, Feb 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Stimulii)

Smalberger said the issue came up because authorities need to know his movements whenever he leaves the home where he is staying.

The timing of any resumption of training was uncertain.

Pistorius's longtime coach, Ampie Louw, declined to comment on any training plans for the runner, referring questions to a spokeswoman for the athlete's family.

Louw had said when the runner was in detention that he wanted to put him back into training in the event that he was granted bail. But he had also said Pistorius could be "heartbroken'' and unwilling to immediately run again.

Pistorius, who was released on bail Friday, is staying at the house of his uncle, Arnold, in the affluent suburb of Waterkloof in Pretoria.

Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder in the killing of Steenkamp, in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

Smalberger said officials will visit Pistorius at his uncle's home at least four times a month, and that the runner indicated his interest in training again. More planning must occur before the start of any training.

"We want a training program from his coach so that we have backup for his movements,'' Smalberger said.

"He's not under house arrest, but his movements need to be known to us so that we don't pitch there and he's not there,'' he said. ``We agree on 'free time' normally during the course of the day, and in the evening we expect him to be home.''

Pistorius's 2013 season had been geared towards the August 10-18 World Championships in Moscow, where the South African 4x400 relay team will be trying for another medal to add to the silver it won at the 2011 edition.

Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair had set bail at 1 million rand ($113,000). The track star was also ordered to hand over his passports, turn in any guns he owns and keep away from his upscale home in a gated community in Pretoria, the scene of the crime.

He cannot leave the district of Pretoria without his probation officer's permission and is not allowed to consume drugs or alcohol, the magistrate said.

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