User:Theoldsparkle/pist

In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Pistorius' girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot four times and killed at Pistorius' Pretoria home. Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with Steenkamp's murder on 15 February in the Magistrates Court in Pretoria. The presiding magistrate, Chief Magistrate of Pretoria Desmond Nair, agreed to the defence's request to postpone bail hearing until 19 February.

During the bail hearing, both prosecution and defence said that Pistorius had fired four shots through a locked bathroom door, hitting Steenkamp inside the bathroom. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel claimed that Pistorius had put on his prosthetic legs, walked across his bedroom to the bathroom, and intentionally shot Steenkamp through the door. Nel argued that the time required for this process was sufficient to establish the murder as "premeditated." Pistorius said that he had thought Steenkamp was in the bed, and that the person in the bathroom was an intruder. He also said he had not put on his prosthetics before shooting into the bathroom.

Chief investigating officer Hilton Botha said at the bail hearing that a witness had heard sounds of fighting from Pistorius' home before shots were fired; he initially said the witness was 600 metres away, but later said the distance was 300 metres. Botha also said the trajectory of the gunshots indicated that they had been fired downward and directly toward the toilet. He acknowledged that procedural mistakes had been made during the crime scene investigation, and that police had found no evidence that directly contradicted the version of events offered by either the defense or the prosecution.

On 22 February, at the conclusion of the three-day bail hearing, Magistrate Nair confirmed that Pistorius would be charged with premeditated murder but that an "extensive and thorough argument" had been made that the death was not a premeditated murder. Nair said that the state had not convinced him that Pistorius posted a flight risk, and fixed bail at 1 million rand ($113,000). Pistorius' next court appearance is scheduled for 4 June 2013.