It followed detailed analysis of his whatsapp and text message exchanges with girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp prior to her death on February 14.

In contrast to messages read out in court yesterday, in which Steenkamp said she was sometimes "scared" of Pistorius' behaviour towards her, today the court heard a multitude of loving and affectionate messages as the defence looked to prove the couple had a happy and harmonious relationship.

As messages were read out in court, alongside closed circuit television footage of the couple kissing as they shopped for groceries, defence lawyer Barry Roux, insisted the negative messages read out in court yesterday amounted to just a tiny fraction of the estimated 1,700 messages extracted from the phone by police captain Francois Moller.

Roux added that of the 1,700 messages extracted by police, the prosecution had found just four that showed rows between the couple.

June Steenkamp (right), mother of Reeva Steenkamp, and her long time friend Jenny Strydom cry as footage is shown of Steenkamp and Pistorius kissing whilst shopping for groceries ©AFP/Getty Images



During the trial, the prosecution revealed details of calls to and from Pistorius' phone in the period after the shooting, which showed that after alerting security guards and the ambulance service he rang his friend, his brother and his manager.

The phone records showed Pistorius made a call to security first, contradicting earlier evidence given by a security guard who had said they had called him after hearing gun shots from the house.

"The first call was made by Mr Pistorius...It was answered, it lasted for nine seconds," Moller says.

A prosecution witness, Colonel Gerhard Vermeulen, was also recalled by the defence to answer questions about a "new" mark at the top of the toilet door broken down by Pistorius to reach the dying Steenkamp.

In an effort to prove Pistorius was, in fact, wearing his prosthetic legs when he knocked down the door, a claim contested by the prosecution, Roux argued that to reach this new mark Pistorius must have been wearing the prosthetics.

After questioning by Roux, Vermeulen conceded he did not try to match the cricket bat with these new marks.

Roux claimed the witness did not match the marks to the bat because it did not fit with the prosecution's case the defendant was on his stumps.

The trial has now been adjourned to give the defence time to consult with witnesses not called by the State, with whom they could not communicate until now.

It is not known whether Pistorius will give evidence first on Friday.

But a member of the defence team claimed it is "likely" that he will.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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