Humiliated Pistorius police chief accused of seven attempted murders is sacked as Blade Runner spends final night in prison before finding out if he's made bail
* Warrant officer Hilton Botha will face seven charges of attempted murder
* Accused of opening fire while drunk on a taxi containing seven passengers
* Paralympian denies the premeditated murder of his girlfriend
* Bail application postponed until 10am local time tomorrow morning
* Blade Runner sobbed again in court as defence summed up his case
* Prosecution criticised his written affidavit rather than spoken evidence
* Prosecution: Death threat claims was 'just for dramatic effect'
As Oscar Pistorius prepares to spend a final night behind bars before finding out his bail application verdict, the officer leading the murder investigation has been humiliatingly sacked by a top South African detective.
The replacement of investigator Hilton Botha by the South African Police Service came after a third dramatic day of testimony at Pistorius' bail hearing in Pretoria where he stands accused of premeditated murder.
The athlete, known as Blade Runner, has admitted shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29, through the bathroom door, thinking she was a burglar.
Realising his mistake, he claims he broke the door down with a cricket bat and carried the model downstairs.
The prosecution claim it was a premeditated murder, but his defence advocate has argued there is no evidence to suggest the athlete's account of events is untrue.
In a dramatic twist it emerged that Detective Botha has been charged with seven counts of attempted murder relating to an incident in October 2011 and is due to appear in court himself in May with two other police officers, accused of firing shots at a minibus which had seven people inside.
The case was previously dropped but he was charged yesterday, to the surprise of prosecutors in the Pistorius case.
This afternoon it was announced that the police officer who will take over as lead investigator on the Pistorius case is Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo.
Ms Phiyega said the case would 'receive attention at the national level' and Mr Moonoo would 'gather a team of highly skilled and experience detectives.'
Det Botha, who gave evidence at Pistorius' bail hearing yesterday, was summoned back to the witness box today where he was questioned by Magistrate Desmond Nair.
The detective told the court the case against him had previously been dropped, and said he was not drunk and was chasing suspects at the time.
Pistorius' family were once again on the front row to support him - they shed the funereal black and his brother Carl wore a stripey jacket.
When the court when into recess, Carl walked through the gallery shaking hands with supporters.
The 26-year-old's chances of winning bail appeared to increase dramatically today after the embarrassing series of blunders and confusion in the prosecution case yesterday.
Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, the first officer to arrive at the house, also admits he had compromised the crime scene with ‘unprotected shoes’
Prosecution admitting they originally missed a bullet cartridge in the toilet basin
Det Botha calling the substance found in Pistorius' bedroom 'steroids' only to be corrected by the prosecution that it was a box of 'testosterone'
Det Botha at first saying he had a statement from someone 600m away, then changing that to 300m, and later saying he was not sure
Det Botha agreeing defence lawyer that police had no evidence challenging the runner's claim he accidentally killed his girlfriend in a bathroom, believing it was an intruder
Today's proceedings began with prosecutor Gerrie Nel confirming to the court that Det Botha was facing seven attempted murder charges.
'The case [against Botha] was originally dropped but now it has been reinstated,' Mr Nel said.
Det Botha was not initially in court and Magistrate Desmond Nair had to ask for him to be found.
On arrival in the courtroom the detective admitted he had not yet obtained telephone or financial records for Miss Steenkamp.
After being told by Mr Nair that there appeared to have been a lack of urgency in getting them, he admitted it should have been done.
Moving on to discussing a possible flight risk, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court he has a copy of Afrikaans magazine, Sarie, that features Pistorius and his sister Aimee.
In the interview Pistorius says: 'I spend 4 months a year in South Africa, have house in Italy and spend 4 months a year there, its quiet and tranquil.'
Yesterday the defence stated categorically that Pistorius had no such house in Italy, but Det Botha claimed the athlete had a house in Italy as evidence to suggest he could be a flight risk.
Today Mr Nel told the hearing the Italian house is not owned by Pistorius, but it is on loan to him.
Pistorius' defence lawyer Mr Roux said the onus was on the state to show that it was in the interests of justice for Pistorius to remain in prison, saying: 'The evidence does not even show that the applicant committed a murder.
'The poor quality of the evidence presented by chief investigating officer Botha exposed disastrous shortcomings in the state's case.'
At one point the magistrate overseeing the bail hearing briefly cleared the court saying there was a 'threat' outside the building after being handed a piece of paper.
Pistorius was hurried out of the court, but returned five minutes later and the bail hearing resumed.
In the same grey suit, blue shirt and grey tie combination he has worn throughout the bail hearing, the double-amputee stood ramrod straight in the dock, then sat calmly looking at his hands
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the athlete had been slumped over and sobbing uncontrollably at times as detail was read out of how Steenkamp died in his house.
This afternoon Mr Roux said poor-quality evidence by Det Botha had exposed disastrous shortcomings in the state's case.
He said he had been selective with what he said and determined to 'bolster the state's case', but could not refute Pistorius' version of what happened.
Mr Roux said Steenkamp staying with the Paralympian was consistent with a loving relationship, and that after she was shot, evidence suggested Pistorius was desperate to save her life.
He said the fact there was no urine in her bladder suggested she had got up to go to the toilet and if Pistorius had shouted about an intruder, it was likely she would have locked the door adding: 'The evidence is not that the applicant knew the toilet was locked when he fired the shots.'
Mr Nair asked: 'Do you think there will be some level of shock if the accused is released?'
Defence lawyer Barry Roux responded: 'I think there will be a level of shock in this country if he is not released.'
Yesterday Det Botha claimed Pistorius was involved in another shooting at a restaurant in Johannesburg in January and asked the gun owner to take responsibility for the incident.
Today Mr Roux said the discharge of the gun was an accident and if it was used to deny bail it would be a 'terrible injustice.'
He also said that using the allegations that Pistorius then asked a friend to take responsibility as grounds to suggest he would influence witnesses would be unfair.
He claimed Det Botha had been selective with what he said, and seemed determined to 'bolster the state's case'.
The defence lawyer repeated assertions made yesterday that Mr Botha could not refute Pistorius' version of what happened.
Pistorius sobbed again in court as Mr Roux summed up his case.
After a short break the prosecution summed up their case for why Pistorius should not be allowed bail.
Opposing bail, prosecutor Gerrie Nel painted a picture of a man 'willing and ready to fire and kill,' and said signs of remorse from Pistorius do not mean that the athlete didn't intend to kill his girlfriend.
'Even if you plan a murder, you plan a murder and shoot. If you fire the shot, you have remorse. Remorse might kick in immediately,' Nel said.
Mr Nel said the onus was not on the state, but on Pistorius, to prove he should be given bail.
The prosecutor stressed that Pistorius shouldn't be given special treatment and asked if the Paralympian thought: 'I'm Oscar Pistorius, I'm a world renowned athlete, that in itself is special', was an argument for exceptional circumstances.
'He (Pistorius) wants to continue with his life like this never happened,' Nel went on, prompting Pistorius, who was crying softly, to shake his head.
He said Pistorius' version of events was improbable and his actions that night were indicative of a man ready and willing to fire to kill.
'The reason you fire four shots is to kill,' Mr Nel persisted.
Mr Nel said the prosecution is sceptical that Pistorius got up in the night and walked past the bed twice and did not notice Miss Steenkamp was missing.
He questioned why he fetched his firearm from the side where Miss Steenkamp was sleeping, but did not say: 'Reeva, Reeva, have you heard something? Did you hear a noise?'
Mr Nel criticised the fact that Pistorius gave a written affidavit rather than spoken evidence saying no-one can test a written affidavit.
He asserted that the Pistorius' claim of being a victim of death threats and crime was 'just for dramatic effect.'
Mr Nel said: 'The uncontradicted, unchallenged evidence of the position of his cellphone and gun are the coup de gras for his case.
He claimed the position of phones belonging to Pistorius and Miss Steenkamp on the bathroom mat suggested they had been having an argument there and asked why the model would have taken her phone into the bathroom otherwise.
But the magistrate, Desmond Nair, said Pistorius might have put them there after the killing.
As Mr Nel summed up the prosecution's case opposing bail, the world famous athlete began to weep in the crowded courtroom, leading his brother, Carl Pistorius, to reach out and touch his back.
Pistorius' family looked disappointed as they filed out the hearing after the magistrate explained that administrative requirements of courthouse meant the hearing was postponed until tomorrow morning.
The case has already been plagued by blunders - just hours after the Det Botha told the athlete's bail hearing performance enhancing drug testosterone and steroids had been found at his mansion home, prosecutors changed their story.
In a humiliating U-turn, a spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecution Agency said there had been an error in the evidence of Det Botha when he identified the ‘testosterone’ in the bedroom.
Medupe Simasiku said it is too early to identify the substance as it is still undergoing testing.
There had been gasps in court when Det Botha – a policeman for 24 years – and prosecutors claimed testosterone had been found together with needles.
But Mr Roux said yesterday: ‘It is a herbal remedy, it is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance.’
He also confronted Botha over contaminating the crime scene. ‘You were in the house walking with unprotected shoes. That should not happen,’ he said. The detective admitted he should not have been.
There was laughter in the court when magistrate Desmond Nair asked Botha about his belief that if granted bail, Pistorius would flee South Africa. Mr Nair said: ‘I’m sure we would both agree that his face is widely recognised internationally.
‘Do you subjectively believe that he would take the opportunity, being who he is, using prosthetics to get around, to flee South Africa?” Botha responded: ‘Yes.’
The second day of the bail hearing appeared at first to go against Pistorius, with prosecutors saying a witness can testify to hearing ‘non-stop talking, like shouting’ between 2am and 3am before the shooting.
However, under cross examination, Botha said the person who overheard the argument was in a house 600 metres away. Later, prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned the detective who then said the distance was 300 metres.
The defence argued that screaming heard coming from the house was Pistorius calling for help from his balcony.
Botha also claimed examination of the model’s body and the bathroom door Pistorius fired through suggested he had been wearing his prosthetic legs –directly contradicting the athlete’s claims that he was on his stumps and fired believing an intruder had broken in.
‘I believe that he knew that Reeva was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door,’ the detective told the court.
As details were released from Miss Steenkamp’s post mortem showing bullets hit the right side of her head, her hip and right elbow, Pistorius lent forward sobbing and muttered prayers.
Earlier, Mr Nel said the killing was premeditated because Pistorius took time to put on his prosthetic legs before the shooting.
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