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Oscar trial, day 29 - AS IT HAPPENED

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Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his ongoing murder trial in Pretoria. (Thobile Mathonsi, AFP)
Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his ongoing murder trial in Pretoria. (Thobile Mathonsi, AFP)
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14:53 - Nel asks for an adjournment. Court will resume on Monday, and the prosecution will examine the images that Wolmarans has volunteered.




14:51 - Nel rejects Wolmarans's argument that Reeva was on the floor, Wollie says she was falling as the shots were fired.




14:49 - Wolmarans says he couldn't fix the gun that gave problems in the dark, with no tools. Nel calls Wollie "Captain" by mistake.



14:46 - "It's possible that there was not enough propellant powder in the firearm," says Nel, Wolmarans agrees, but adds that there are many possibilities.



14:44 - Nel switches to the firearm, Wolmarans says that sometimes the gun sticks. Ammunition not "friendly" to that type of gun.



14:43 - Wolmarans returns to his argument on where Reeva was sitting: "How could the bullet have landed in the toilet?"



14:39 - Wolmarans struggles to find words to express himself as Nel puts him under pressure.



14:38 - Nel states that splinters must have spread, based on picture. Wolmarans says the arm was not further than 60cm.




14:35 - Oscar Pistorius yawns as he listens to evidence in court for his ongoing murder trial in Pretoria. (Herman Verwey, Pool, AP)




14:34 - Smaller particles would've been more visible on paper, Nel asserts. "I can't disagree with that," says Wolmarans.




14:33 - "Exactly," Nel exclaims when Wolmarans says he didn't use paper to test dispersion.




14:32 - Ammunition is very scarce, says Wolmarans. Best norm is to fire five shots, but he only fired one to test with witness board.




14:28 - Wolmarans researched with an American the kind of ammunition that Oscar used when he shot Reeva.




14:27 - Nel: "Why did you not ask him [Oscar] what ammunition he used?"
Wolmarans: "In my mind, I was doing the investigation on my own."




14:24 - Nel wants any other reports from Wolmarans's computer. Wollie: "My lady I've already stated I've only got one report on my computer."




14:23 - Wolmarans argues that Reeva's left hand could have caused a second deflection of greater than 3°. "What deflection do you need?" fires Nel, Wolmarans looks flustered, says he has photographs of his work.




14:20 - "I put it you: If you hear the sound with the bat, there are clear background sounds of crickets. But with the gunshot, the cricket sounds are very soft in the background." Wolmarans insists that he can't discern the sounds.




14:18 - Wolmarans has heard the sounds played in court, gun and bat sounded similar because he didn't put on his hearing aid.




14:14 - Nel goes back to the decibel reports. Wolmarans says: "I'm not a sound expert."




14:13 - "Why would you have Captain Mangena's report and not your old reports?" fires Nel. "But you did not keep your earlier reports?"
"Maybe it was a mistake on my side," says Wolmarans.




14:11 - Wolmarans insists that he did his own work on reconstruction, without being influenced.




14:07 - Oscar Pistorius listens to evidence in court during his ongoing murder trial in Pretoria. (Themba Hadebe, Pool, AP)




14:07 - "I didn't interfere with Captain Mangena's investigation," says Wolmarans. Nel says: "I didn't ask that." Questions around the accuracy of hanging the door for reconstruction.




13:58 - Nel pushes Wolmarans on the trajectory of the bullets, but Wollie argues that the wood's resistance may influence flight path.




13:55 - Advocate Nel to continue his cross-examination of Tom "Wollie" Wolmarans, focus on Reeva's position when she was shot.




12:45 - Nel asks for an early lunch adjournment, granted.




12:43 - Both agree that Reeva's vest was in position.




12:41 - Nel has marked the photographs to show Wolmarans, but Wollie sticks to his guns.




12:37 - Nel now focuses on the striation marks, says that it matches the wound. Wolmarans disagrees.




12:35 - Nel showing Wolmarans pictures of Reeva's back injury, bullet fragments.




12:31 - Wolmarans not sure on which part of the magazine rack would have caused Reeva's back injury.




12:29 - Nel moves to injury on the back, Wolmarans says the wound was caused by a blunt object, likely the magazine rack.




12:27 - Nel examines body tissue on the tile, Has to be the head wound, Nel insists. Wolmarans disagrees. Nel: "Are you serious?"




12:25 - Wolmarans takes a seat, looks stressed.




12:24 - Magazine rack position is common sense, says Wolmarans. "It might be common sense, but it's not the accused's version," counters Nel. "The accused must be wrong."




12:20 - Nel to Wolmarans: "Have you asked him [Oscar] how he fired? Was it not important for you to know that?" Wolmarans insists that firing was rapid.




12:18 - Nel and Wolmarans fundamentally disagree on the scenario in the toilet.




12:15 - Oscar Pistorius listens to evidence during his murder trial in Pretoria. (Gianluigi Guercia, Pool, AP)




12:14 - Nel: "If she collapsed, the head wound could never have happened." Wolamrans says "No."




12:12 - "My lady, what happened behind that door we will never know," says Wolmarans. But knows that Reeva was not sitting on the toilet when the shots were fired.




12:10 - Nel says Bullet hole B indicates there is no space for her head if her shoulder matches it. Wolmarans disagrees, says Reeva collapsed.




12:08 - Wolmarans says that he doesn't understand Nel's argument. Splinters indicate the position.




12:05 - Nel contradicts Wolmarans on the Reeva's right arm position. Says: "There's no place for her head."




12:02 - Wolmarans goes into the toilet demo set up in court to show what he think happened. Laughter from the gallery.




12:01 - Wolmarans says that after Reeva was hit, she could not move voluntarily. Says that she collapsed after she was hit.




11:59 - Nel: "Head wound in all probability the last shot," Wolmarans agrees.




11:57 - Bullet hole E hit Reeva in the right leg, she would have fallen backward and to the right, says Nel.




11:54 - Wolmarans agrees that there could have been some movement, but doesn't understand the movement.
"Now we're getting somewhere," shrieks Nel.




11:52 - Nel questions Wolmarans on the position of the laser, implying bullet trajectory change. Wolamrans says: "No, your hand can move left or right."




11:49 - Wolmarans dishes out some Mangena love, says Mangena calls him "Oom", calls Mangena "My seun".




11:46 - Wolmarans says he agreed with the calculations by Captain Mangena on where Oscar was when he shot Reeva.




11:43 - Nel says that Wolmarans has had his evidence rejected, "Wollie" explains that he had a discussion with the advocate who assured him that the evidence of the accused was rejected.




11:41 - Nel takes a shot: "Mr Wolmarans you are biased, you just wanted to say Mr Pistorius vomited." Wolmarans gets angry.




11:39 - Nel wants Wolamrans to say when he discussed the case with Oscar. Wolmarans struggling now to find words; counting them carefully.




11:37 - Nel on the Wolmarans report: "What did you change?"
Wolmarans: "I can't remember."




11:36 - Wolmarans concedes that he might have changed his report, but not after the discussion with Dixon. "Mr Dixon is not a ballistics expert, so I wouldn't take his advice."



11:34 - Wolmarans took Dixon for a beer after he retired from testifying.




11:33 - Wolmarans's voice begins to break: "I was asked to do this because of something that was on YouTube."




11:32 - No decibel tests were done on the night that the shooting tests were done. Wolmarans says: "I organised the shooting range."




11:30 - Wolmarans says that during the first door test, Oscar hit the door.




11:28 - Wolmarans says that he was present at the test of hitting the door. Door wasn't stable, test was a failure.




11:26 - Nel wants to know whether Wolmarans gave electronic copies of the report. Wolmarans says that he doesn't remember. Nel gets annoyed: "Why don't you remember?"




11:24 - Nel wants to see the earlier copies of reports to highlight discrepancies.




11:23 - Wolmarans concedes that he discussed the report with the defence, but didn't hand them a written report.




11:21 - Nel wants to know whether Wolmarans has a filing system, gets annoyed at a "most of the time" answer.




11:20 - Wolmarans getting exasperated now, tells the judge that the crime scene was in chaos when he first investigated.




11:18 - "I didn't think it necessary to bring it court," says Wolmarans. "Things have changed because of this type of science."




11:17 - "Did you furnish them with a report before this trial started?" says Nel. Wolmarans says "yes"; Nel says: "Why don't you want us to see your earlier report?"




11:15 - Wolmarans explains to the judge that he amended his report, Nel wants to know whether he signed a report. No, says Wolmarans.




11:14 - Nel presses on the point on whether Wolmarans had a number of written reports; Wolmarans becomes a bit exasperated, says he answered the question.




11:12 - Wolmarans says that his report is ongoing, amends report as he gets more information.




11:10 - Roux wants to place on record that the inspection that the toilet was examined, concedes that the laser aligns with holes B and E.



11:06 - Police sprays a can to make lasers set up more visible to officials.




11:04 - Nel invites the judge to examine the toilet up close; judge agrees and inspects the toilet.




11:03 - We're back and it's Nel's show to test the evidence presented by Tom Wolmarans.




10:20 - Roux: I have no further questions, Nel asks for an adjournment, granted.




10:17 - Shots and cricket bat sounds recorded, tests showed that sounds were similar, but cricket was not as loud.




-    Following a two week recess, The Oscar Pistorius Trial resumed on Monday 5 May. Here’s what took place –


10:12 - Wolmarans agrees with police that Oscar was on his stumps when he fired the shots.




10:09 - Reeva must have hit her back on the magazine rack after she was hit, says Wolmarans.




10:07 - "Hold on, hold, I'm lost," Judge interjects, Roux apologises.




10:06 - Ballistics that Wolmarans understands doesn't include the possibility that Reeva was sitting on the magazine rack.




10:03 - Wolmarans testifies that Fragment K could not have caused the injuries to Reeva's back, contradicts police evidence.




10:00 - Judge questions the meaning of "bullet's line".




9:58 - 




9:57 - Fragment K was found in the toilet bowl, deflected bullets lose most of energy, would have rebounded into the toilet bowl.




9:55 - Bullet that penetrated Reeva's upper arm would have fragmented, says Wolmarans.




9:53 - Wolmarans indicates where the fragments were recovered, points to an anomaly in photograph 187.




9:51 - 




9:49 - Fragments cannot be from the same bullet, as the groves don't add up, says Wolmarans.




9:47 - Wolmarans turns attention to the bullet fragments, especially those found around the toilet.




9:46 - Reeva fell against a "hard blunt surface" says Wolmarans, contradicting police testimony.




9:44 - 




9:43 - Reeva's left hand could not have been against her head, as there are no additional injuries on the hand.




9:41 - Reeva's wounds consistent that she fell down further than 60cm from the toilet door, says Wolmarans.




9:40 - Abrasion pattern was because Reeva's arm was close to the door, Wolmarans testifies.




9:38 - Wounds caused by wood splintering, no similar wounds on exit because of bone fracturing.




9:34 - Roux continues to question Wolmarans on the bullet holes and the abrasion wounds on Reeva's arm.



9:32 - 



9:30 - Tom "Wollie" Wolmarans, a retired South African Police Service forensics expert will continue his testimony at the Oscar Pistorius trial. (Themba Hadebe, AP)




9:22 - 
South Africans on Twitter are already questioning the outcome of a not guilty verdict in the Oscar Pistorius trial.




9:22 - 


9:17 - 


9:15 - Oscar's house sold for around R5m says Beeld.




9:05 - Day 29 of court proceedings about to get underway and news has emerged that Oscar's house where he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp has been sold.

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