Olympian Oscar Pistorius (R) has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Source: AAP
A SOUTH Africa prosecutor has charged Olympian Oscar Pistorius with the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The 26-year-old appeared in the dock at the Pretoria court in a black suit, blue shirt and grey tie and stared straight ahead anxiously.
Oscar Pistorius' father Henke Pistorius and siblings, Aimee and Carl, were in court at the start of his bail hearing on Tuesday, seated behind the defence in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court.
The prosecutor argued Pistorius committed premeditated murder.
The double-amputee Olympian and Paralympian "Blade Runner" is seeking bail
at the hearing.
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that Pistorius killed an "innocent and unarmed woman" in a premeditated murder.
"There is no possible explanation to support his report that it was a burglar," Nel told the court.
The prosecutor said that Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through the bathroom door of his home in a guarded and gated complex in the South African capital.
Nel told the court the door had been broken open.
Nel said Pistorius put on his prosthesis, walked seven metres and fired three shots through a locked bathroom door at Steenkamp.
Nel said the victim arrived at the house between 5pm and 6pm the night before she was killed at 3am.
The prosecutor also said the athlete, who broke down in tears during the hearing, had not provided investigators with his own version of what happened.
Defence lawyer Barry Roux said Steenkamp was not murdered, and there were a number of cases where men have shot members of their own family through doors after mistaking them for burglars.
"There's no agreement there, not even concession that this is
murder."
He also suggested that Pistorius broke the bathroom door down to help Ms Steenkamp after the shooting.
After the shooting Pistorius informed his sister that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder, the court heard.
Nel said the killing was premeditated because the defendant planned to say that he thought he was shooting an intruder.
He added: "It was all part of the pre-planning. Why would a burglar lock himself inside the bathroom?"
Nel said: "He prepared. He armed himself. The motive was, he wanted to kill.
"We have the facts. There were two people in the home. (One) was shot dead."
Four bullets were fired through the bathroom door - three hit Steenkamp, Nel said.
"There is no possible explanation to support his report that it was a burglar," he said.
Pistorius was emotional as the state read out the first parts of its case against him, at times holding his head in his hands.
Judge Desmond Nair ruled that Pistorius will face a charge of premeditated murder over the death of Steenkamp.
The magistrate ruled that Pistorius faces the harshest bail requirements available in South African law. He did not elaborate before a break was called in the session.
Pistorius spoke only to confirm he had no previous convictions.
"Yes, your worship," he said in a shaking voice.
Nair asked Pistorius to speak up and he repeated the phrase louder.
The judge ruled that, for the purpose of the bail hearing, the case was a schedule six offence - meaning premeditated murder - rather than the less serious schedule five.
Pistorius' family huddled in prayer at the court after the judge's ruling, and the his father Henke was comforted by family members outside the court.
