South African athletics star Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend by shooting her through a bathroom door at his home, prosecutors told a court.
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| Pistorius, 26, slumped forwards with his head in his hands as the prosecutor accused him of murdering an 'unarmed and innocent woman'. But as the judge decides whether Pistorius should be kept in custody, 600 miles away in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth Miss Steenkamp will be buried at a private funeral. |
Charges: Oscar Pistorius is today facing the possibility of months in jail before a trial after a magistrate ruled that he faces a charge of premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
Decision: The judge said he will consider downgrading the charge later during the emotionally-charged bail hearing, but the news brought Pistorius and his family to tears.
He wept as he heard the account, but his lawyers said the killing was "not even murder".
Decision: The judge said he will consider downgrading the charge later during the emotionally-charged bail hearing, but the news brought Pistorius and his family to tears.
He wept as he heard the account, but his lawyers said the killing was "not even murder".
The hearing came as the victim's family held a private funeral.
Friends and relatives hugged each other at the start of the service for the 29-year-old former model in her home town of Port Elizabeth.
'Answers'
The prosecution is pursuing a charge of premeditated murder against the 26-year-old athlete.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that on the night of the killing Mr Pistorius - a double amputee - got up, put on his prostheses, walked seven metres and fired his gun through the bathroom door.
He shot four times and hit Ms Steenkamp three times, he said. The defendant later broke down the bathroom door and carried the victim downstairs, Mr Nel added.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux told the court his client did not know in advance who was behind the door.
He said the prosecution had provided "no evidence of premeditated murder", and that it was not even murder.
Mr Pistorius was sobbing as his lawyer spoke, the BBC's Andrew Harding reports from the courtroom.
Following Thursday's killing there was media speculation that Ms Steenkamp had been mistaken for an intruder, but police rejected that possibility.
Mr Pistorius has been held in a cell at a police station Pretoria since his arrest on Thursday.
Ms Steenkamp's relatives spoke of their grief in a newspaper interview published on Monday.
Her mother, June Steenkamp, told the Times of South Africa: "All we want are answers... answers as to why this had to happen, why our beautiful daughter had to die like this."
The case has aroused huge interest both in South Africa, where Oscar Pistorius is regarded as a national hero, and around the world.
Mr Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion, competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games at London 2012.
Source:BBC / DM
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