The prosecution case against the Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has been dealt serious blows after South African police admitted a series of blunders in their murder investigation – and the chief investigator turned out to be on attempted murder charges himself. 
 
 Hilton Botha, the detective leading the investigation, had crumbled under defence cross-examination on Wednesday after he wrongly claimed to have found boxes of "testosterone" in Pistorius's bedroom and admitted that police had no evidence contradicting the athlete's version of events. 
 
 On Thursday further pressure was piled on South African police as they admitted Botha is himself charged with attempted murder. 
 
 Police Brigadier Neville Malila told the Associated Press that the detective is scheduled to appear in court in May. Malila said Botha faced seven counts of attempted murder over what news reports called a drunken incident in which he and two other police officers were accused of firing shots from a state-owned vehicle while trying to stop a minivan. 
 
 Pistorius, a double leg amputee known as the Blade Runner, has admitted shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, while she was in the bathroom of his home on 14 February, but claims he mistook her for an intruder. He denies a charge of premeditated murder. 
 
 Sitting in the dock at Pretoria magistrates court for his bail hearing, Pistorius looked more calm and composed than at any point so far, while the smiles on his family's faces suggested that they felt momentum was shifting his way. 
 
 The lead protagonist in another day of drama on Wednesday was chief investigating officer Botha, who initially asserted that he had found two boxes of "steroids" in Pistorius's bedroom, electrifying the courtroom. But he hastily corrected himself to say "two boxes of testosterone, needles and injections". 
 
 Later, questioned by advocate Barry Roux for the defence, Botha had to admit he could not be certain of the contents. Roux said it was a "herbal remedy" called testo-compositum co-enzyme used by many athletes, insisting: "It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance." 
 
 The state prosecutor's office later said there was an error in the detective's testimony when he identified the substance as testosterone. Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for South Africa's national prosecution agency, said it was too early to identify the substance as it is still undergoing laboratory tests. 
 
 Roux piled on the pressure on Botha after he told the court that one of his witnesses heard a fight – "two people talking loudly at each other" – between 2am and 3am on 14 February. 
 
 Questioned by Roux, he conceded the witness had not identified the voices as belonging to Pistorius and Steenkamp – and lived 600 metres away in a gated community. There was a collective murmur from Pistorius's family. Botha later changed his estimate to 300 metres when questioned by the prosecution. 
 
 Botha acknowledged that Pistorius's legal team had also found a spent bullet cartridge in the toilet bowl in the bathroom that his officers had not. He also confronted Botha, saying: "You were in the house walking with unprotected shoes. That should not happen." Botha conceded that it should not. 
 
 Botha said police found two iPhones in the bathroom and two BlackBerrys in the bedroom, adding that none had been used to phone for help after the shooting. But Roux claimed the defence team had another phone in its possession that the police had failed to request. "Why did you not come to us and ask for Pistorius's cellphone number?" he asked. 
 
 Roux also took him to task for failing to check Pistorius's claim that he phoned the Netcare hospital at 3.20am. 
 
 Botha said ammunition for a .38-calibre weapon had been found at the house but Pistorius did not hold a licence for it. "Did you take steps to find out who the owner of the ammunition was?" Roux asked. Botha replied: "No, I didn't." He also acknowledged that his investigators did not take photographs of the ammunition and allowed Pistorius's friends at the scene to take the cartridges away. 
 
 Wilting under pressure, Botha conceded that he had initially said there would be "no problem" with Pistorius receiving bail but changed his mind after talking to forensics about "how it went down". 
 
 Yet asked repeatedly by Roux if he found anything at the scene inconsistent with the account presented by Pistorius in court on Tuesday, Botha confessed that he had not. Nor did he have any evidence to suggest the couple were not in love. Police "take every piece of evidence and try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court", Roux said. 
 
 The criticism continued at the end of his testimony, when magistrate Desmond Nair noted that Botha was opposed to Pistorius receiving bail on the grounds that he was a "flight risk". Nair said the accused was an international Paralympic athlete who uses prosthetic legs and whose face is internationally recognised. 
 
 "Do you subjectively believe he would take the opportunity, on prostheses as he is, known as he is, to flee South Africa if he was granted bail?" Nair asked. 
 
 Botha, who has 24 years' experience as a police officer and 16 as a detective, replied: "Yes." 
 
 That was met by an outburst of laughter in court, where the mood has mostly been tense and sombre. 
 
 The magistrate pressed: "And if he were to flee, he may opt for a country with no extradition agreement with South Africa?" 
 
 "It's possible, that's all I can say," the detective replied. 
 
 Pistorius, 26, had said in an affidavit read in court on Tuesday that he and his girlfriend had gone to bed on 13 February and that when he awoke in the early hours of the morning he detected what he thought was an intruder in the bathroom. 
 
 He testified that he grabbed his 9mm pistol and fired into the door of a toilet enclosed in the bathroom, only to discover later that Steenkamp was there, mortally wounded. 
 
 As on previous days, Pistorius looked vulnerable in the dock, struggling and sometimes failing to hold back tears. As the prosecution ran through its case against him, he sobbed. 
 
 The court was again congested with criminologists, journalists and legal officials. A sketch artist, Jaco Van Vuuren, could be seen drawing Pistorius's face. 
 
 The prosecution argued that the couple had a shouting match, that Steenkamp fled and locked herself into the toilet and that Pistorius fired four shots through the door, hitting her with three bullets. 
 
 "I believe that he knew that Reeva was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door," said Botha, adding that the angle at which the rounds were fired suggested they were aimed deliberately at somebody who was on the toilet. 
 
 One point of dispute is whether Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs when he shot through the bathroom door. In his statement on Tuesday, the athlete said he was on his stumps and feeling vulnerable when he opened fire. 
 
 But the prosecution has claimed the killing was premeditated because Pistorius took time to put on his prosthetic legs first. Botha supported this view, saying the trajectory of the bullets through the door showed the gun was fired from a height. "It seems to me it was fired down," he said. 
 
 Prosecutor Gerrie Nel projected a plan of the bedroom and bathroom on to a white screen in the court and argued Pistorius had to walk past his bed to get to the bathroom and could not have done so without realising Steenkamp was not in the bed. "There's no other way of getting there," Nel said. 
 
 Botha said the holster for the 9mm pistol was found under the side of the bed on which Steenkamp slept, also implying it would have been impossible for Pistorius to get the gun without realising that Steenkamp was not in the bed and could have been the person in the bathroom. Pistorius has claimed that the bedroom was pitch dark. 
 
 Botha cited another witness who claimed to have heard "two-to-three shots", seen Pistorius's lights on, then 17 minutes later heard another "two-to-three shots." He said: "We have the statement of a person who said after he heard gunshots, he went to his balcony and saw the light was on. Then he heard a female screaming, then more gunshots." Roux again contested the claim. 
 
 Botha said Steenkamp was shot in the head over her right ear and in her right elbow and hip, with both joints broken by the impacts. The shots were fired from 1.5 metres, he added, and police found three spent cartridges in the bathroom and one in the hallway connecting the bathroom to the bedroom. 
 
 Officers found the victim downstairs covered in towels and wearing white shorts and a black top. The detective said that all Pistorius would say after the shooting was "he thought it was a burglar". 
 
 Guards at the gated community where Pistorius lives did call the athlete, Botha said. The detective said that all the athlete said was: "I'm all right," before crying. "Was it part of his premeditated plan, not to switch off the phone and cry?" Roux asked sarcastically. 
 
 But the prosecution did land some blows on the athlete's character. Botha claimed that Pistorius was involved in another shooting at a restaurant in Johannesburg in January and, aware of the media storm that would ensure, asked the gun owner to "take the rap" for the incident, which he did. 
 
 Botha told the court of a further incident at a racetrack where Pistorius allegedly threatened to "fuck up" a man during a row over a woman. 
 
 As the day wore on, Pistorius's brother Carl moved to the front desks and sat beside the defence team. At one point he turned to Pistorius and smiled. 
 
 Carl said later: "I feel like the court proceedings went well today. We trust that everyone has more clarity about this tragic incident." 
 
 Kenny Oldwage, Pistorius's lawyer, added: "We're very pleased with today." 
 
 The hearing was adjourned to Thursday morning when a decision over bail might be made. ||||| Henke Pistorius, 59, said that his family had "zero doubt" that Mr Pistorius had shot Reeva Steenkamp dead mistakenly thinking she was intruder. 
 
 "When you are a sportsman, you act even more on instinct," he said. "It's instinct - things happen and that's what you do." 
 
 He said the entire Pistorius family was "heart and soul" behind the athlete and would do "whatever needs to be done" to help him clear his name. 
 
 His comments to The Sunday Telegraph followed the release by the family of a statement in which they described the 26-year-old athlete as "numb with shock as well as grief" over the events of the past three days. 
 
 They said that evidence gathered by the police themselves "strongly refutes" any possibility of the premeditated murder charge with which prosecutors have said they will charge the athlete. 
 
 They also insisted that Mr Pistorius, whose position as South Africa's golden boy was cemented when he won two gold medals and a silver at last year's London Paralympics, had no reason to harm Miss Steenkamp, 29, his girlfriend of four months. 
 
 "All of us saw at first hand how close she had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were. They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," they said. 
 
 Reeva Steenkamp in the reality show Tropika Island of Treasure 
 
 The family fightback came as reports emerged that Mr Pistorius fought to save Miss Steenkamp's life after allegedly shooting her four times through the bathroom door in the early hours of St Valentine's Day morning. 
 
 Security guards and neighbours who rushed to his exclusive home on a security compound outside Pretoria saw Mr Pistorius running down the stairs with the blonde model in his arms, according to a source quoted by the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld. 
 
 Miss Steenkamp was still breathing, it said, and Mr Pistorius tried desperately to save her using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 
 
 "Blood splatters along the route that Pistorius carried her was further proof that her heart was still beating," the paper added. 
 
 And a close friend of Mr Pistorius told on Saturday how the athlete called him moments after Miss Steenkamp was shot. 
 
 Justin Divaris told the Sunday People: "Oscar called me at 3.55am saying that Reeva had been shot. I said to him, 'What are you talking about? I don't understand you.' He then repeated himself - 'There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva. 
 
 "Next thing his neighbour picked up the phone and told me it was true and told me to get to Oscar's home. I was in total shock. I asked the neighbour, 'Is she OK?' Did the gun go off by accident?' She replied, 'No. She's not OK. You need to get here'." 
 
 Beeld also reported that Mr Pistorius, who kept a machine gun under his window for security as well as the 9mm pistol by his bed - with which he is believed to have shot Miss Steenkamp - had seven firearm licence applications pending, including one for a .223 semi-automatic rifle - the same calibre of combat weapon used in the Sandy Hook school massacre in the United States, in which 20 children and six teachers died. 
 
 Henke Pistorius reaches out to his son Oscar (AFP/Getty) 
 
 In the Tropika Island of Treasure programme, filmed in Jamaica and screened on South African television last night with the blessing of her family, Miss Steenkamp was seen alongside other bikini-clad contestants taking part in a hunt for treasure. The winner of the contest was to receive £73,000 in prize money. 
 
 In a series of scenes she was filmed studying a treasure map on the deck of a yacht, jumping into the sea from a cliff, and swimming with dolphins. 
 
 In a poignant interview, filmed just days before she died as she prepared to return home she spoke about the importance of leaving a positive mark in life. 
 
 Dressed in a strappy top and a yellow and black bikini, with her blonde hair scraped back, she said: "Not just your journey in life but the way that you go out and make your exit is so important. You have either made an impact in a positive way or a negative way." 
 
 Mr Pistorius had delivered a prescient message of his own just days earlier, retweeting to followers the comment: "Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had" with the additional words: "True that." 
 
 On Friday, during his first court appearance since the incident on Thursday morning, he repeatedly burst into tears as prosecutors discussed how they would charge him with murdering his girlfriend. 
 
 Mr Pistorius faces a murder charge in Pretoria (Reuters) 
 
 Standing behind him, his father and brother were seen reaching out to clasp his shoulder and pat his back. Henke Pistorius told The Sunday Telegraph on Saturday that they were a close family and had no doubt of his innocence. 
 
 "I let him know that all of us are in heart and soul with him," he said. "That's why we were there and whatever needs to be done we will do." 
 
 He said he felt no need to question his son too closely about the exact events of that night. "He is going to have enough of that, enough advocates asking him things over and over," he said. "I can just imagine how absolutely emotional it must have been for him." 
 
 But there was "zero doubt" in his mind that he had acted in fear of an intruder, he added. "Without any doubt there was no purpose in it, it's not an issue for us," he said. "I have zero doubt (that he thought it was an intruder) - it's totally absurd to even suggest anything different. 
 
 "When you wake up in the middle of the night - and crime is so endemic in South Africa - what do you do if somebody is in the house? Do you think it's one of your family? Of course you don't," he said. The family were keen hunters, he said, and his son had grown up with guns. 
 
 Reading a statement before television cameras yesterday, Mr Pistorius' uncle Arnold and sister Aimee said the entire family was "in a state of total shock". 
 
 "Firstly about the tragic death of Reeva who we had all got to know well and care for deeply over the last few months," they said. "We are all grieving for Reeva, her family and her friends. Oscar - as you can imagine - is also numb with shock as well as grief." 
 
 They said that they were also struggling to come to terms with the murder charge Mr Pistorius now faces. "The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by the unimaginable human tragedy," they said. 
 
 "After consulting with legal representatives, we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder. We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the State's case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all." 
 
 Last week was not the first time however that Mr Pistorius has brushed with police. In 2009 he received a warning over an alleged assault on a 19-year-old girl at his home. Last year, he was accused of sending a text message to a man he believed was involved with his former girlfriend threatening to break his legs. 
 
 Mark Batchelor, a friend of the man who got involved in the row, alleged Mr Pistorius also telephoned and threatened him. 
 
 "He called me 'boy' and said he wanted to clear the air, saying he had heard I had a problem with him. I told him that he can't go around threatening people. He said he wasn't afraid of me and the phone cut," he told Johannesburg's Star newspaper. "The man I heard on the phone is a different man from the image given out there. He carries a gun everywhere and I have seen him be controlling to women." 
 
 Reeva Steenkamp's uncle Michael, who like most of her family lives in Port Elizabeth on the south coast, said they were ignoring such reports and focusing on the case ahead. Mr Pistorius, who is being held this weekend in a polic station cell, will return to Pretoria Central Magistrates Court on Tuesday for a bail application. 
 
 "We do not want to speculate what happened. We would rather pay attention to the criminal process will take its course now," Mr Steenkamp told Beeld. "We are a religious family. And if you believe in God, then you know justice will be in his hand." ||||| Sky News has obtained pictures inside the house of paralympian Oscar Pistorius - including images of the bloody bathroom where he shot his lover, Reeva Steenkamp. 
 
 The pictures have emerged as allegations that police officers involved in the investigation are being questioned following the disappearance of one of the runner's watches from his house. 
 
 This is the first time the public has seen the actual room where the athlete's model girlfriend was killed. 
 
 The images show a panel missing from the toilet door - and two police markers below the handle which indicate bullet holes - low down. 
 
 It is likely the defence will argue this backs up the runner's claims that he was on his stumps and shooting - from low down - at what he thought was an intruder. 
 
 The pictures inside the house show a trail of blood from the bathroom 
 
 The athlete has always insisted he and Ms Steenkamp had had a quiet night in together at his house, which is in a secure compound in Pretoria. 
 
 He says he got up in the early hours to bring in a fan from the balcony. But when he went back into the bedroom again, in the pitch dark, he says he heard a noise. 
 
 He has already told the Pretoria Magistrates' Court during his previous bail application hearing in February that he immediately believed there was an intruder in the house. 
 
 He says he grabbed a gun that he kept for security purposes in the bedroom and ran seven metres or so down the passageway leading to the bathroom, without his prosthetic legs on. 
 
 The tape shows two bullet holes in the bathroom door 
 
 There he fired four shots into the toilet door, which was closed. He insists it was only when he went back into the bedroom and realised his girlfriend was not in bed that it dawned on him it was her in the toilet. 
 
 The couple had only been dating a few months when the shooting on Valentine's Day happened. But the world's best known paralympian insists he was deeply in love with Ms Steenkamp and her death was a horrible accident. 
 
 When the athlete last appeared in court, he said when he realised his mistake he did everything to save his lover, battering the toilet door with a cricket bat to get to her. 
 
 The pictures inside the house show a trail of blood from the bathroom as the paralympian carried Ms Steenkamp downstairs after shouting for help, with flecks of blood on the wall, on the sofa downstairs and on the landing. 
 
 Oscar Pistorius during his bail hearing 
 
 There is also an image of the gift that the model had wrapped up ready to give the athlete. Stuck on the top of it, is a card with just one word - Ozzy - her nickname for him. There is a container of heart-shaped sweets too. 
 
 But the prosecution believes a very different version to the one presented by Oscar Pistorius. 
 
 It maintains the athlete's girlfriend ran into the toilet after a row with the sportsman - and he deliberately targeted and shot her - having taken time to put on his prosthetic limbs beforehand. 
 
 This act, the prosecution maintained at the bail hearing, was tantamount to pre-meditation. 
 
 Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead on Valentine's Day 
 
 Other photographs show footprints in blood. The investigating policeman, Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, has already admitted he walked through the scene without wearing protective foot covers, potentially contaminating the evidence. 
 
 Warrant Officer Botha was taken off the case after that emerged - as well as the news that he himself was facing seven counts of attempted murder. He has since retired from the police service. 
 
 Now, there are further allegations about the police conduct at the house. Two different sources have told Sky News that other officers are being investigated too after the disappearance of one of the athlete's watches from his house 
 
 The South African Police Service, when contacted by us, refused to comment. 
 
 But the latest allegations will only add to the impression that the initial investigation into the killing of Reeva Steenkamp was not entirely above reproach. ||||| Experts agree that steroids could have made Oscar Pistorius more aggressive, but it's far-fetched to think ‘roid rage led to murder of Reeva Steenkamp South Africa police who searched the Olympian's home after Reeva Steenkamp's death reportedly found a stash of steroids, and investigators have theorized the drugs may have made Pistorius more aggressive before Steenkamp was slain at his home on Thursday. 
 
 Experts aren’t buying the notion that Oscar Pistorius went into a ‘roid rage before he allegedly killed his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. 
 
 Steroid abuse may have been linked to everything from liver failure to impotence and back acne to baldness — but it’s far-fetched to suggest ‘roid rage led "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius to kill his model girlfriend last week. 
 
 South Africa police who searched the Olympian's home after Reeva Steenkamp's death reportedly found a stash of steroids, and investigators have theorized the drugs may have made Pistorius more aggressive before Steenkamp was slain at his home on Thursday. Investigators have reportedly even asked for Pistorius' blood to be tested for the muscle-building drugs. 
 
 Steroids experts, however, say that theory doesn't have much muscle. 
 
 RELATED: RUGBY PLAYER ONCE DATED PISTORIUS GIRLFRIEND 
 
 "No question, anabolic steroids at certain dosages can increase aggressiveness in a miniscule number of people," said Norman Fost, the director of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "But there is no evidence that steroids make you use a gun on someone." 
 
 The South Africa Institute for Drug-Free Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency are following the case closely, WADA director general David Howman told the Daily News on Monday, and South African anti-doping officials are cooperating with the police investigation into Steenkamp's brutal and bloody death. 
 
 Anti-doping officials could strip Pistorius of the medals he won at 2012 London Paralympics last year, but Howman said WADA will let police complete their investigation before they open a case against him. 
 
 RELATED: BLOODY CRICKET BAT AT CENTER OF REEVA STEENKAMP MURDER CASE: REPORTS 
 
 "WADA is aware of the newspaper reports suggesting that steroids were found at the home of Oscar Pistorius," the Montreal-based agency said in a statement. 
 
 Matt Dunham/AP 
 
 "As this is a police matter, WADA and the South Africa Institute for Drug-Free Sport must work appropriately with the police. Bearing in mind the ongoing police investigation, WADA must refrain from making any statement at present." 
 
 Long Island attorney Rick Collins, who specializes in legal issues involving dietary supplements and performance-enhancing drugs, said that Pistorius may not have been using the drugs found in his home when Steenkamp was murdered. 
 
 RELATED: REEVA STEENKAMP REALITY SHOW AIRS ON SOUTH AFRICAN TV 
 
 He said that other factors, such as alcohol and mental illness, should also be considered in Steenkamp's death. 
 
 Collins agreed that studies suggest that very high dosages of steroids can increase aggression, but steroids in general do not have a psychological effect on users, he said. "I doubt Pistorius was using those kind of dosages," he said. 
 
 Athletes and others who use steroids often talk about gaining greater confidence from the drugs, but Collins said that is the result of feeling bigger, stronger and faster. 
 
 RELATED: 'BLADE GUNNER' HAD PISTOL MISFIRE MONTH BEFORE KILLING GIRLFRIEND 
 
 "If a guy is a jackass at 180 pounds and he uses steroids to bulk up to 250, he may act more like a jackass because he has more weight to throw around," Colins said. 
 
 But blaming Steenkamp's death on muscle-building drugs, Collins said, is simply a simplistic explanation to a complicated tragedy. 
 
 "'Roid rage is a mythical phenomenon," Collins said. ||||| Exclusive – The case against Oscar 
 
 A bloodied cricket bat is the central piece of evidence in the unfolding murder investigation into ReevaSteenkamp’s death. 
 
 City Press can reveal that police are investigating different scenarios involving the bat – one of which is that her boyfriend, Olympic hero Oscar Pistorius, used it to viciously assault her. 
 
 The police are also investigating two more possibilities: that Steenkamp may have used the bat in self-defence, or that Pistorius used it to break down the toilet door behind which Steenkamp was hiding from him. 
 
 We can further reveal that police specifically requested that Pistorius’ blood be tested for drugs and steroids. 
 
 Steenkamp’s skull was “crushed” and police tests on the cricket bat and her body will reveal if the injuries were caused by blows to the back of her head. 
 
 “There was lots of blood on the bat. Forensic tests will show whose blood it was,” said a source with inside knowledge of the case. 
 
 City Press spoke to three sources close to the high-profile investigation, which has gripped the world’s imagination. They all ruled out the possibility that Pistorius could have mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder. The police found no evidence of forced entry. 
 
 Pistorius is being held at the Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria and will apply for bail on Tuesday. He has denied murdering Steenkamp. 
 
 On the same day, a memorial service will be held for the 29-year-old Steenkamp in Port Elizabeth. 
 
 The sources agreed that the state had a “rock-solid” case against the popular athlete. 
 
 Said a criminal lawyer with 30 years’ experience: “He could possibly get a 20-year sentence instead of life if he pleads guilty.” 
 
 If a court finds him guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment, he will only be able to apply for parole after 25 years, when he will be 51. 
 
 Based on in-depth interviews with our sources, City Press has pieced together Thursday morning’s fateful events that claimed the life of Steenkamp, a popular model and reality star who had been dating Pistorius since November last year. 
 
 Pistorius’ father received a call from his son just after 3.20am on Thursday, asking him to come to his house. When his family arrived, Oscar was carrying Steenkamp’s body down the stairs from his bedroom to the entrance hall. Her head and arms were “dangling”. 
 
 He allegedly told his sister, Aimee, that something terrible had happened and that he had mistaken Steenkamp for a burglar. The police questioned Aimee and took a sworn statement from her. 
 
 Steenkamp was still breathing and Pistorius tried to resuscitate her in the foyer. Paramedics and police arrived on the scene and, minutes later, she was declared dead. 
 
 Steenkamp was wearing her nightie at the time. When the police inspected Oscar’s bedroom, they found her overnight bag and iPad on the floor. A holster for a 9mm pistol was found on Oscar’s side of 
 
 the bed. 
 
 The bedclothes were crumpled. “It was clear that both of them had slept in the bed,” said a police source. 
 
 One cartridge was found in the bedroom and the police suspect Oscar may have “chased” her and fired the first shot before Steenkamp could lock herself inside the toilet. 
 
 “The suspicion is that the first shot, in the bedroom, hit her in the hip. She then ran and locked herself in the toilet. She was doubled over because of the pain. He fired three more shots. She probably covered her head, which is why the bullet also went through her hand,” said a source. 
 
 Steenkamp was shot in the head, hip, arm and hand. 
 
 In anticipation of a possible argument that he experienced “roid rage” – extremely aggressive behaviour associated with taking large doses of steroids – the police insisted that the athlete’s blood be tested for any foreign substances. 
 
 On Friday, Oscar’s family and management released a statement in which they disputed the murder “in the strongest terms”. 
 
 “These are now live and active legal proceedings which must be allowed to take their course through the process of proper investigation by the police, evidence-gathering and through the local South African judicial system,” the statement read. 
 
 Oscar described Steenkamp’s death as a “terrible, terrible tragedy”. 
 
 - Adriaan Basson and Jacques Steenkamp
– With an eye toward 'roid rage, police had Oscar Pistorius' blood tested for steroids, and a "source close to the investigation" tells the Sun that police did find performance enhancers in their search of his house. "Steroid drugs were found at Pistorius’ home together with evidence of heavy drinking. That’s why police have specifically ordered that he be tested for steroids," says the source. What might have gotten him so angry? The Sun reports that Reeva Steenkamp's phone records indicate she may have gotten a text from rugby star Francois Hougaard that night. Sources say Pistorius was unhappy with Steenkamp's friendship with Hougaard. Pistorius' running days are over for now even if he is granted bail. "I have decided that following these tragic events that we have no option but to cancel all future races that Oscar Pistorius had been contracted to compete in," his agent said after a visit to his client, who is being held in a police station, the AP reports. The Olympic and Paralympic star still has "overwhelming support" from his fans, says his agent, whose company has confirmed that big sponsors including Nike are sticking by Pistorius and "are happy to let the legal process takes its course before making any change in their position." He declined to discuss Pistorius' emotional state, Reuters reports. Pistorius' best friend—who introduced him to Steenkamp—says the runner called him minutes after the shooting, before contacting emergency services, the Mirror reports. Pistorius said, "My baba, I’ve killed my baba. God take me away," says Justin Davaris. Asked to explain, Pistorius said, "There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva," Davaris says. Amid reports that a bloodied cricket bat is now a key part of the case, the runner's family say they have "zero doubt" that Pistorius shot his girlfriend by accident after mistaking her for an intruder. "When you are a sportsman, you act even more on instinct," his father tells the Telegraph. "It's instinct—things happen and that's what you do."