Pistorius’s bedroom is dark – expert
Oscar Pistorius's bedroom is pitch dark when the curtains are drawn in the evening, and all the lights and electronic equipment are switched off, a forensic expert told the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
FILE PICTURE: Defence advocate Barry Roux is seen during the murder trial of paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Tuesday, 15 April 2014. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters/Pool
Roger Dixon said he had conducted visibility tests at Pistorius’s home.
“With everything off on a moonless night, I couldn’t see anything. Not even my hand…” said Dixon.
He testified that on February 14 last year, the day Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there had also been no moon.
Dixon said he did another test where he switched on the electrical appliances but kept the lights off.
The appliances and small illuminators on the light switches provided some light.
Dixon had performed the same tests at Pistorius’s residence on Monday.
“There was a moon, therefore there was a little light coming… through the passage,” he said.
Dixon told the court the light switch for both the bathroom and the toilet cubicle were on the same panel outside the bathroom door.
“The toilet light was not working,” he said.
Pistorius is charged with murdering Steenkamp. He shot her through the locked bathroom door in his Pretoria townhouse on Valentine’s Day last year. He claims to have mistaken her for an intruder, and that he fired the shots by accident.
– Sapa
