IN STIR: Oscar Pistorius, with slain gal pal Reeva Steenkamp in November, is in jail awaiting a bail decision. (AFP/Getty Images)
“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius shot his model girlfriend at a downward angle through the bathroom door — indicating he put on his prosthetic legs before opening fire on the helpless woman, the lead investigator in the slaying testified yesterday.
“I believe he knew she was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door,” Warrant Officer Hilton Botha said in the second day of bail testimony in a South Africa courtroom.
But the testimony was followed hours later by the bombshell revelation that Botha himself faces attempted-murder charges.
Police Brigadier Neville Malila said early today that Botha is due in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder.
Malila said Botha had been drinking when he and two other officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan carrying seven people in October 2011.
The charges were withdrawn last year but reinstated yesterday.
It was unclear if he would continue working on the case.
The stunning disclosure raised more questions about the prosecution’s handling of the sensational case.
Earlier, the embattled cop testified that the shots that killed Reeva Steenkamp went in at a “top to bottom” trajectory, he said. “It seems to me it was fired down.”
Prosecutors say the slaying of the blond model was premeditated, and whether he put on the prosthetics is a key part of their case.
Pistorius has claimed he fired from a low position after walking on his stumps to the bathroom.
Botha said that neighbors heard arguing at Pistorius’ home.
“One of our witnesses heard a fight, two people talking loudly at each other . . . from 2 in the morning to 3,” Botha said.
A neighbor told cops he heard a single shot, followed 17 minutes later by three more.
“We have the statement of a person who said that after he heard gunshots, he went to his balcony and saw the light was on. Then he heard a female screaming two, three times, then more gunshots,” Botha said.
Pistorius’ lawyer, Barry Roux, disputed the claims, noting that a witness Botha cited lived 1,000 feet away and the other witness misheard how many shots were fired.
Botha’s testimony came a day after Pistorius said he shot into the bathroom thinking that an intruder was lurking.
“As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself,” he said in an affidavit.
Pistorius claimed it was only when he returned to the bedroom that he realized she was not in bed.
But prosecutors said he would have had to notice her absence when he walked past the bed.
“There’s no other way of getting there,” said prosecutor Gerrie Nel, pointing to a floor plan.
Botha also said that cops found testosterone and needles in the house — though prosecutors later said the substance had not been tested.
“It’s not clear if it was a legal or an illegal medication,” Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for South Africa’s National Prosecution Agency, said after the hearing.
Pistorius’ attorney, Roux, said they found an “herbal remedy.”
When Botha arrived on the scene at 4:15 a.m., Steenkamp already had been declared dead.
Pistorius could also face additional charges because cops found unlicensed .38-caliber ammunition in a safe at his house, Nel said.
Botha said Pistorius is a flight risk and has offshore bank accounts.
“While we were on the scene, the lawyer and brother came to the house because we called them and asked . . . to open the safe. They brought a locksmith for a safe in the kitchen,” Botha said.
“They were looking for documents and a [computer] memory stick with account numbers for offshore accounts. They found documents and the memory stick.”
Botha’s testimony — and news of his own legal woes — gave little reason for prosecutors to celebrate with a victory lap.
Besides the steroids flub, the 24-year veteran cop admitted he did not wear booties over his shoes to avoid contaminating the crime scene. He also miscalculated the distance from Pistorius’ house to a witness, and at one point admitted that the evidence did not dispute the runner’s own affidavit.
The legless sprinter — being held at a police station — reportedly told a cop that he’d be free soon.With
“He’s convinced he’ll be out by the weekend and back on the track before the end of the year,” the cop told the Times of Johannesburg.
Pistorius’ family said Botha had backed up the runner’s story.
“The investigating officer Hilton Botha confirmed during cross examination that the known ballistic and forensic evidence found on the scene where Reeva Steenkamp sadly lost her life was consistent with Oscar’s version of events that the incident was a tragic accident,” the statement said.
They added that they found, “the contradictions in Botha’s testimony extremely concerning.”