Cries of "'roid rage" were heard on the Internet after the Valentine's Day killing of Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp hit the news. After all, some said, Pistorius was an athlete in a sport where steroids are not unknown. On Wednesday, day two of the Pistorius bail hearing, authorities said they found two boxes of testosterone and needles in the bedroom of the former Olympian.
Detective Hilton Botha revealed the find on Wednesday during testimony. Pistorius' defense team was quick to deny the allegations, claiming instead it was a legal herbal remedy commonly used by athletes.
In additional testimony, Botha said that a neighbor reported hearing first one gunshot, then screaming, and then more gunshots. Pistorius' defense team fired back at that as well: They noted that the same witness, who they claim lives at least 600 yards away from Pistorius' home, seemed to have reported hearing a total number of gunshots that did not align with the forensic evidence in the case.
Botha is the detective in charge of the investigation.
The prosecution has theorized that Pistorius and Steenkamp argued before she locked herself in the bathroom. They say he fired four shots through the door, three of which hit Steenkamp and killed her. Botha said, "I believe that he knew that Reeva was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door." He added, though, that there were no defensive wounds on Steenkamp's body.
In a possible blow to the prosecution's case, Botha noted that although the police have their theory -- as above -- none of the evidence found thus far eliminates the chance that Pistorius is telling the truth about the incident. His defense has been that the shooting of Steenkamp was an accident. Pistorius, who is charged with premeditated murder, has claimed since the beginning that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and, as he did not have his carbon-fiber legs on, felt vulnerable and fired through the bathroom door.
The bail hearing will continue for a third day on Thursday. Chief magistrate Desmond Nair -- who has already declared that the case should be dealt with as premeditated murder, will have to decide if Pistorius is eligible for bail. Premeditated murder would raise the bar the defense to prove Pistorius is eligible for bail to its highest level.
On Tuesday, authorities asserted that Pistorius is a flight risk after a USB drive was discovered with details of the athlete's offshore bank accounts.
Oscar Pistorius was nicknamed "Blade Runner" due to his dual carbon-fiber prosthetics. He was born with a condition known as fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula) in both legs. When he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics on Aug. 4, 2012, Pistorius became the first amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Games. In the first heat of the 400m race, he finished second place with a time of 45.44 seconds (which had been his best time of the season at that point), advancing to the semifinals which were held on Aug. 5, 2012.
He ran in the second semifinal, where he finished eighth, which was last, with a time of 46.54 seconds.
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