The City Press has reported that the state intends to argue that Reeva Steenkamp was cowering behind the toilet when Oscar Pistorius shot and killed her on Valentine’s Day this year.

Should the state manage to prove this argument, it will go a long way toward proving that Steenkamp was attempting to escape Pistorius by hiding in the toilet at the time of her death. Here are the leaked crime scene pictures, showing where the blood lies on the toilet floor.

This, from City Press:

City Press was reliably told that the analysis is consistent with Steenkamp being in a crouching position when she was shot in the head, hip and arm.

This confirms the theory of former investigating officer Hilton Botha, published by Vanity Fair in June.

Botha told the magazine, based on his inspection of the crime scene, that he believed the former model was “cowering in the toilet with her arms crossed, which would account for why one bullet had gone through her fingers before entering her arm”.

He further stated that bullets had struck Steenkamp on her right side, “which meant that she was not sitting on the toilet but probably crouching behind the locked door”.

Botha said he believed Pistorius had fired at the door from less than five feet away. The postmortem report reveals that Steenkamp’s skull was “crushed” by the impact of the bullets from Pistorius’ 9mm Parabellum pistol.

Pistorius argues that he was unaware that Steenkamp was in toilet when he fired four rounds through the door. He maintains that he was intending to kill an intruder who he believed posed a threat to his and Reeva’s safety.

Pistorius will stand trial for the premeditated murder of Steenkamp on March 3 2014. The trial is likely to last two weeks, and will involve as many as 170 witness.

[Source : City Press]