_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

7:53 am

Mr Van Rensburg says he treated Pistorius as a suspect, warned him of his rights and asked him to stay at the scene.

He says the athlete's brother Carl arrived on the scene, followed by lawyer Kenny Oldwage.

Mr Van Rensburg says he and Detective Hilton Botha then took the official photographer up to the bathroom and pointed out the areas he should concentrate on.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:02 am

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel says he wants to "deal with the watches" as a picture of eight designer watches flashes up.

There is a blood stain on the upper part of the open box - they were on the chest of drawers in the man bedroom.

The witness says: "I then told myself those watched were tempting... any other person would see they are expensive."

He says he asked the photographer for pictures of the watches, and asked him to "keep an eye over those watches".

He adds they could not remove the watches from the scene as there were blood spots on them.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:13 am
Mr Van Rensburg said the accused was arrested and taken from the scene.

After the accused was removed from the scene, the witness says he found the forensic team inside the main bedroom.

The photographer apologised that the team had started without him.

Mr Van Rensburg says he noticed a watch on the bottom left hand side was missing. The photographer told him Pistorius' sister took the watch.

He says he called them all into the garage, body searched them all, their bags and vehicles, but there was no sign of it.

He says he had earlier warned Pistorius that because he was a celebrity, people might be tempted to take things as memorabilia.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Ballistics "Expert" handled and cocked gun without gloves

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:23 am
Nel says he wants to deal with one further incident, about whether an officer handled the firearm in the bathroom.

Mr Van Rensburg says he did not handle then gun, but when he was on the phone he heard the firearm being cocked. The ballistics expert had already taken out the magazine, and had the firearm in his hand, without gloves.

The witness says the expert told him he was sorry, and put his gloves on, but Mr Van Rensburg was :furious".

8:20 am
A second watch is also said to have been taken, and the colonel opened a theft case.

One watch is believed to have been worth 50 to 100,000 Rand.

VR said he was "furious" about the missing watch.

He said the next day he "started access control and each person entering and exiting the scene were documented and their exhibits documented."

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:28 am
This is the picture of Pistorius shown to the court earlier.

Taken by police in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, it shows him bare chested, wearing grey shorts, with blood on his lower half.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:40 am
Van Rensburg says he is no longer a policeman, and is now a sports coach.

Gerrie Nel finishes his questioning.

Barry Roux is now on his feet for cross-examination.

8:36 am
He says the door was kept in his office until February 28th, but he had control of the office, and no one tampered with it.

On the 18th, the defence asked to see the door, and the seal was broken in their presence, the witness says.

The defence team took photographs and wanted to take it out of the bag to look at the height of the bullet holes.

Van Rensburg says he declined the request.

8:32 am
Gerrie Nel is now moving on to ask the witness about the door.

Mr Van Rensburg says after hearing newspapers willing to pay for a photo of the door, the realised they needed to do something.

He says: "We decided to take down the door... The door was the most valuable evidence."

He tells the court they put the door in a body bag, but as they moved it the loose door panels shifted.

It was then taken to Mr Van Rensburg's office.

He said: "I know some people would ask why take it to my office... My office is secure. I am the only person with a key to the room."

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Achtung!!!

Roux unleashed

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

8:47 am
Roux asks if the prosecution are going to call Detective Hilton Botha, but Nel says he doesn't know yet.

Roux says Van Rensburg gave evidence which would make calling Botha unnecessary - to avoid putting him on the stand.

He goes on to say Roux omitted certain things from his statement. The witness admits he did not mentioned an open door in the main bedroom.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:16 am
Roux asks repeatedly if the witness touched or moved anything on the scene. He says he did not.

The hearing adjourns for a short break.

9:12 am
Roux is going back over van Rensburg's first trip into Pistorius' house. The lawyer says he is trying to establish the extent of the witness' observations.

Van Rensburg says he and Detective Botha spoke as they walked, pointing out significant items.

He says he did not disturb anything in the bathroom, and did not see Botha disturb anything.

9:01 am
Mr Van Rensburg says again that Pistorius was "very emotional", but not "unstable" when he arrived at the scene.

He was crying and you could see he was upset, he says, but not in a furious way.

He agrees with Roux that the accused was overcome with emotion so could not answer him.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Tea Break

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

10:01 am
The court is back in session.

Roux takes Van Rensburg through a list of those people who had access to the crime scene, including Detective Botha and Pistorius' brother Carl.

He says when the photographer arrived, he and Detective Botha took him along the blood trail.

Van Rensburg says he did not see the white iPhone in the bathroom at first because it was under a bloodied towel.

Roux says to him: "I think as an experiences policeman you would know not to interfere with the scene."

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

1:00 am
Roux reads from Van Rensburg's statements, which says in the bathroom he found the cricket bat to the right of the basin. The lawyer asks him about his memory of which way up that bat was found.

They move on to a picture of a white mobile phone found in the bathroom - the one the witness said he didn't see at first because it was covered by a towel.

Roux says the phone had been moved for the purposes of taking a photo. Roux put it to him that that photo does not reflect what Van Rensburg saw. The witness agrees.

Roux asks when can they rely on the scene photos as a true reflecting of the scene, and when was the scene altered?

The case is adjourned for lunch.

10:40 am
Van Rensburg says each police vehicle has a tracker type device, so they can check for themselves who was there first.

The court has now been shown pictures of Oscar's sealed door, taken on February 14 2013.

Roux asked Van Rensburg: "How do you feel about your ability observe?"

He then says the witness did not pick up the different between to pictures where one has big crosses of sealed tape covering the door.

Van Rensburg complains about Roux not showing the pictures next to each other.

10:30 am
Roux moves on to a statement from another office - Sibeko - who says he arrived on the scene and went upstairs first, following the blood trial.

But Van Rensburg says that's "amazing" as he was not there before me.

The witness says that officer must have written the information on "hearsay" as he was not in the bathroom.

10:30 am
Roux moves on to a statement from another office - Sibeko - who says he arrived on the scene and went upstairs first, following the blood trial.

But Van Rensburg says that's "amazing" as he was not there before me.

The witness says that officer must have written the information on "hearsay" as he was not in the bathroom.

10:27 am
Roux is going through Van Rensburg's statements with him.

The witness tell Roux he and Detective Botha went upstairs together while Pistorius was in the kitchen.

But Roux finds a hole in his statement, and suggests Botha did not go upstairs with him when they followed the blood trail. He says Pistorius was in the garage when Botha arrived.

Van Rensburg insists he did go upstairs with Botha.

10:27 am
Roux is going through Van Rensburg's statements with him.

The witness tell Roux he and Detective Botha went upstairs together while Pistorius was in the kitchen.

But Roux finds a hole in his statement, and suggests Botha did not go upstairs with him when they followed the blood trail. He says Pistorius was in the garage when Botha arrived.

Van Rensburg insists he did go upstairs with Botha.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Adjourn




LUNCH

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

They are back

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

12:17 pm

We're back in court after lunch.

Roux is asking Van Rensburg about a photo of the white iPhone found in the bathroom, and complains there is no reference on the police label to the fact that it has been moved.

They are now talking about a side-on picture of Pistorius after the shooting, where you can see blood on his left arm.

Roux says you can see a red sports strip on his back.

He then says Detective Botha gave interviews referring to a bloody shirt.

Van Rensburg concedes the witness was shirtless.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

12:28 pm
Roux asks the witness what he was doing in a picture where he was shown kneeling by the side of the bed.

Van Rensburg says he was looking at the cables of the fans in the room. Roux points out that the curtains in the room were closed.

He concludes his cross-examination.

Pictures of Reeva Steenkamp's body are flashed up on court screens accidentally once again - something that prompted Pistorius to vomit in the dock yesterday.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light