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Pistorius trial reveals botched police work

By Reuters  • 

PRETORIA, South Africa — South African police faced further embarrassment at the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius yesterday when it emerged that a valuable watch had vanished from the crime scene and a ballistic expert had handled the athlete’s gun without gloves.

The Olympic and Paralympic “Blade Runner” denies the premeditated murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day last year, saying he shot her in a tragic accident after mistaking her for a night-time intruder.

On day 10 of the trial, Col. Schoombie Van Rensburg, the first police officer to arrive at Pistorius’ home in a Pretoria estate, expressed his anger at forensic blunders but had his own work called into question by the defense.

Van Rensburg said the missing watch was one of eight originally found in the house.

“I told the whole forensic team that those watches were a big concern of mine,” he told the court. “Then one of the forensic experts mentioned that this particular watch, a green and black one, was valued between 50,000 and 100,000 rand ($4,650 to $9,300).

“I went down to the garage, then one of the officers came and mentioned that one of these watches is missing.”

He said everyone in the house, including all of the police officers, were then subjected to a body search and had their cars swept. But it had vanished.

In another example of botched police work, Van Rensburg described how a ballistics expert had held Pistorius’ gun in his hands without gloves.

It might not be material to the case as there is no dispute that Pistorius fired the fatal shots. But the overall credibility of the investigation still could prove crucial in a trial that has gripped South Africa and is expected to last for several more weeks.

Days after the killing of Steenkamp last year, it emerged that Hilton Botha, the initial lead detective, was himself facing attempted murder charges for firing on a minibus.

Ridiculed for his slipshod handling of the initial investigation, he was pulled off the case and resigned. Van Rensburg has retired.

If found guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius faces at least 25 years behind bars.