![]() Pistorius became visibly disturbed as Dixon spoke of the devastating effects the bullets had on Steenkamp:ĭixon offered his opinion, despite not being a ballistics expert like Mangena, that Steenkamp was standing up and reaching for the toilet door handle when hit by the first bullet:īBC News' Andrew Harding then noted the sound test conducted by the defence, which attempted to show that gunfire sounds the same as a cricket bat hitting a door from a distance: The defence claims she fell against a magazine rack, whereas Captain Mangena testified for the State that she slumped on top of it.ĮyeWitness News' Barry Bateman charted Dixon's findings: These findings are crucial to determining Steenkamp's body positions as Pistorius fired his gun. Sky News' Alex Crawford reported the response:įorensic expert Roger Dixon returned to the witness box and instantly contradicted the prosecution's claims that bruises to Steenkamp's back were caused by a gun ricochet. Judge Masipa began Wednesday's session by addressing the prosecution's request for a break from Thursday, April 17 until May 5. Pistorius argues he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, but the State has put it to the court that the athlete knowingly shot the deceased following an argument. Prior to his arrival in court, Dixon had posted the following, and his integrity did indeed take another battering during Thursday's session:ĭay 24 of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial saw the defence resume its attempt to prove the accused did not intentionally kill girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The defence had attempted to prove Pistorius tried to kick the door with his prosthetic legs on the night of the incident: This is contested by the defence, which claims the light was off, and that Pistorius would be too small without his prosthetic legs to have been seen through the window.ĭixon ran tests to see how much can be seen through the window from outside the house, but Nel asked why he didn't use a person of Pistorius' height to conduct the tests:ĭixon's evidence weakened further when he was forced to admit his examinations of Pistorius' prosthetic legs were conducted via photos, rather than the real thing. The Stipps, neighbours of Pistorius and witnesses of the State, claimed they saw him move past the window on the night in question, because the bathroom light was on. Nel then turned to Dixon's test of what can be seen through Pistorius' bathroom window. Pistorius had claimed police had moved the magazine rack before taking pictures, but Dixon's evidence went against the accused: Graphic images of the toilet bowl allowed Dixon to provide his account of where Steenkamp's body was positioned, and he appeared to contradict Pistorius' claims of where the magazine rack was positioned. Nel challenged Dixon on his claim, asking how his version can be more accurate than Professor Saayman, who had conducted an autopsy on the deceased, per Crawford and BBC News' Andrew Harding: ![]() The witness also reiterated his belief that contusions to Steenkamp's back were caused by her falling against the magazine rack, not by the ricochet of a bullet. Nel told Dixon on Thursday that the audio was not to be trusted, per Sky News' Alex Crawford:ĭixon again described his belief that Steenkamp was fired at in quick succession, receiving a fatal wound to the head as she fell, thus preventing her time to scream. The test holds significance because several witnesses claim they heard separate rounds of shots, but the defence is attempting to prove they were mistaken.
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