Mike Holmes / Gallo via Getty Images, file

Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead by her boyfriend, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius on Valentine's Day after she locked herself in the bathroom.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Reeva Steenkamp locked herself in her room when intruders broke into her home two years ago, her uncle said, echoing the model’s apparent actions the night she was shot dead by Olympian Oscar Pistorius.

Steenkamp was given counseling after the break-in at the house where she lived with her parents in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, uncle Mike Steenkamp said in an interview Monday.

According to his account, Steenkamp was at home with her mother in 2011 when a burglar carrying a crowbar smashed into the house. When she heard footsteps Steenkamp raced into her room and hid behind a locked door, he said. 

Prosecution lawyers believe that Steenkamp, 29, locked herself in a bathroom to escape from her boyfriend Pistorius on the morning of Feb. 14.  

They contend that Pistorius -- the 26-year-old sprinter known as "Blade Runner" who inspired millions when he became the first double-amputee to compete in the Olympics -- intended to murder his girlfriend when he fired through the door of the bathroom in his Johannesburg home. 

Pistorius says he thought an intruder had broken in.

'The fear'
During the interview, Mike Steenkamp said his niece "must have been reliving the nightmare" of the break-in in the moments before she was killed.

"Two years ago, the same style of locking in. And they could hear the intruders in the house," he said at his home in Cape Town alongside Reeva’s cousin, Jason Mckay. "They took the laptops and everything else in the house."

"Two years ago could have gone through her mind -- the same locking the door, (the) fear," he added.

Mike Steenkamp also said he had forgiven Pistorius for what happened to his niece.

"I've forgiven Oscar and that's actually helped me,” he said. “It's strengthened me so much that I can manage to cope with daily life."

Pistorius was granted bail last month and is due to return to court in June.  

But his lawyers are set to challenge some of the conditions of his bail, which they believe to be unwarranted and unfair.

They argue that evidence presented in court showed that the Paralympian is not a flight risk, so should have the option of traveling outside South Africa with permission.

Mike Steenkamp struggled to contemplate the possibility of Pistorius going overseas.

"You know, I can't associate with that. I can't allow my mind to go in that direction. I must try and keep away from that. And that's the only way that's going to help myself,” he said.

Mckay, Reeva's cousin, added: "It would be a bit unfair, though, because I know that anyone else in this situation would not be allowed to go anywhere else."

Pistorius' lawyers are also seeking to overturn a ruling that prevents him from returning to the estate where he shot his girlfriend.

Prosecutors have indicated that they will oppose any application to have bail conditions altered.

Related:

Slain model's father: Pistorius will 'suffer' if he's lying about her death

Oscar Pistorius' father accused of racism over gun comments

Oscar Pistorius murder case detective quits South African police

EPA, file

Hilton Botha at the bail hearing of paralympian Oscar Pistorius in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 20.

JOHANNESBURG - Hilton Botha, the South African detective ridiculed for his slipshod handling of the initial investigation into the killing of Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend has resigned from the force, police said on Thursday.

Warrant Officer Botha, a detective with 24 years experience, was the first officer on the scene after the Valentine's Day shooting of law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp.

However, he was pulled off the case after it emerged he was being investigated for seven counts of attempted murder. He was also criticized for mixing up key facts about the investigation at Pistorius' bail hearing.

He handed in his resignation yesterday and it was accepted with immediate effect," police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila told Reuters. "We are not going into the details."

Botha, a detective with 24 years experience, is accused of firing on a minibus taxi full of passengers in 2011 while pursuing a man accused of murdering a woman and disposing of her dismembered body down a drain, local media said.

The charges were withdrawn but reinstated on February 4, 10 days before Steenkamp was shot.

The incident has embarrassed the South African police who regularly come under fire for failing to reduce one of the highest crimes rates in the world and dispel perceptions of a force that is poorly trained.

Last week, eight policemen were arrested for tying a Mozambican taxi driver to the back of a vehicle and dragging him to the station. The video-recorded treatment of the man who later died shocked audiences around the world.

Related:

Pistorius bail hearing in chaos as lead detective is axed from case

Lead detective in Pistorius case faces attempted murder charges

Pistorius: I felt 'sense of terror' on night I mistakenly shot girlfriend

Accused Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will “suffer” alone if he is lying, the father of his slain girlfriend said in an interview with a South African newspaper.

Barry and June Steenkamp, mother and father of deceased 29-year-old model and law school graduate Reeva Steenkamp, told the Afrikaans-language paper Beeld that they were grief-stricken by the loss of their daughter.

“It doesn’t matter how much money he has and how good his legal team is, he will have to live with his conscience if he allows his legal team to lie for him,” Barry Steenkamp told Beeld.

“But if he is telling the truth, then perhaps I can forgive him one day,” he told the paper. “If it didn’t happen the way he said it did, he must suffer, and he will suffer … only he knows.”

June Steenkamp said she was sent a flower bouquet and card by Pistorius’ relatives.

“Yes, but what does it mean? Nothing,” she told Beeld. She said the Pistorius family was “not to blame” for her daughter’s death.

Pistorius’ family said that they felt “relief” to have the accused athlete home in a statement on Saturday.

“This constitutes a moment of relief under these otherwise very grave circumstances,” Arnold Pistorius, Oscar’s uncle, said in a statement. “We are extremely thankful that Oscar is now home.”

“We are acutely aware of the fact that this is only the beginning of a long road to prove that, as we know, Oscar never intended to harm Reeva, let alone cause her death,” the uncle said. “We realize that the law must run its course, and would not have it any other way.”

The family announced on Saturday that it was canceling all social media sites for Carl and Aimee Pistorius, Oscar’s brother and sister. Janine Hills, a spokesperson for the family, said that Carl Pistorius’ Twitter account had been hacked.

“It is most unfortunate that during this sensitive time, someone would choose to hack into Oscar Pistorius older brother, Carl Pistorius’ Twitter handle,” Hill said in a statement. “Carl did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva.”

There was no hint that the romance between Steenkamp and Pistorius would come to such a tragic end, the model’s uncle told Rock Center with Brian Williams.

“Nobody ever saw it coming,” Mike Steenkamp said. “Never forewarned.”

Pistorius, 26, is charged with premeditated murder in the Valentine’s Day shooting death of Steenkamp. Pistorius has said that the shooting was an accident, and that he thought he was shooting at an intruder in his Pretoria home. He was freed on bail Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

'Nobody saw it coming,' Reeva Steenkamp's uncle says

Oscar Pistorius granted bail ahead of murder trial

Pistorius' uncle: Olympian in shock, 'will bounce back'

This story was originally published on Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:35 AM EST

PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius was granted bail Friday pending his trial for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Olympic and Paralympic star Pistorius, dubbed the “Blade Runner,” maintains he did not realize Steenkamp was in the locked bathroom of his home in a suburb of Pretoria, South Africa, and fired through the door in a panic over a possible prowler early on Valentine's Day.

However, prosecutors say the 26-year-old committed the “premeditated murder” of Steenkamp, 29, a model and trained lawyer, who was staying overnight at his house.

On the fourth day of his bail hearing Friday, Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair told the court that he had "come to the conclusion that the accused has made a case to be granted bail."

There was a cry of "yes" from the public gallery after his decision, and his relatives embraced, cried and prayed.

In contrast to the joy of his relatives, Pistorius looked upset.

Nair spoke for more than 90 minutes prior to announcing his decision, summarizing the testimony given to the four-day hearing, citing previous cases and the relevant laws.

He said he had “difficulty” with several aspects of Pistorius’ account of what happened, talking of a number of “improbabilities.”

“I have difficulty in appreciating why the accused did not ascertain the whereabouts of his girlfriend,” Nair said. He said he also struggled to understand “why the accused would not seek to ascertain who was in the toilet” before opening fire.

'Not a flight risk'
But he said he had concluded that Pistorius was "not a flight risk" and said there was no evidence before him that the athlete might interfere with state witnesses. He also said he did not have evidence to suggest Pistorius was "not of a stable mind."

Nair also criticized Warrant Officer Hilton Botha – a police officer pulled from the case because he is facing attempted murder charges -- for making “several errors” during his testimony to the bail hearing.

He also said Botha had “blundered” when he claimed to have found testosterone in Pistorius’ room and had not “spent as much time as he ought to have if he wanted to show the accused has a propensity to violence.”

Nair set bail at a million rand (about $112,000). Pistorius, who was to be freed on payment of the money, was ordered to report to a police station twice a week, among a number of bail conditions.

Pistorius was also ordered to stay away from witnesses, surrender his passports, hand over his firearms and not drink alcohol. The case was then adjourned until June 4.

The athlete left the court at about 5:45 p.m. local time (10:45 a.m ET). He could be seen in a silver Land Rover that was pursued by members of the media on motorcycles after it left the court compound, Reuters reported. The SUV traveled to the home of Pistorius' uncle, Arnold Pistorius, in the Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof, where at least five private security guards kept reporters at bay.

Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for the prosecution, said that they respected the court’s decision.

“We would like to assure everyone that we’re still confident of this case,” he said. “We believe that we will make it through during the trial."

Before the bail decision, prosecutor Gerrie Nel had told the court that “one must stretch” to believe Pistorius’ account of what happened on the night of the shooting.

And Nel questioned why Steenkamp would have stayed silent and not alerted Pistorius that she was in the bathroom.

“Why would she not have shouted, 'Where are you (Oscar)? What's going on?’” Nel said. “She did not say a word. She did not scream. She did nothing! I think that's improbable. ... It's not true!"

In a statement read to the court on Tuesday, Pistorius described waking up and and going to his bedroom balcony to bring a fan inside and close the sliding glass doors and blinds. After hearing a noise in the bathroom, the double-amputee said he felt "a sense of terror" and feared a prowler was in the house.

Pistorius' account added:

"I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted at Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.

"When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet."

Defense lawyer Barry Roux told the court before the decision on bail that Pistorius should at most be charged with culpable homicide, which is the unlawful, negligent killing of someone under South African law.

He said “intent” to possibly kill a burglar could not be transferred to become intent to kill Steenkamp.

Roux said Pistorius would not be able to flee the country unnoticed. If he went through security at an airport, "the system would react."

The lawyer added that Pistorius would not skip bail, saying that his prosthetics needed adjustment every month and that he also required medication for his stomach.

The arrest of Pistorius stunned millions who watched in awe last year as the sprinter reached the semi-final of the 400 meters at the London 2012 Olympics.

In South Africa, Pistorius was seen as a rare hero who commanded respect from both blacks and whites, transcending the racial divides that persist 19 years after the end of apartheid.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Pistorius bail hearing in chaos as lead detective is axed from case

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Pistorius' uncle: Olympian in shock, 'will bounce back'

This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 2:34 AM EST

Stephane De Sakutin / AFP - Getty Images

Investigating officer Hilton Botha was removed from the case on Thursday. He allegedly opened fire on a minibus in 2011.

PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing descended into chaos Thursday as the lead detective investigating the killing of the Olympian's girlfriend was removed from the case amid attempted murder charges of his own.

Warrant Officer Hilton Botha is due to appear in court in May accused of opening fire on a minibus taxi in 2011. Charges against him were originally withdrawn but reinstated on Wednesday at the behest of the state prosecutor, police spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila told Reuters.

The revelation, combined with Botha’s struggle to answer key questions under cross-examination on Wednesday, boosted the confidence of Pistorius’ defense lawyers and his family.

"We're going to win," one relative said as the family entered the courtroom at the start of the third day of a hearing examining whether the double-amputee should get bail. The sprinter is accused of the premeditated murder of model Reeva Steenkamp, 29.

"We're going in the right direction," one of Pistorius' uncles added.

There was further drama when an unidentified woman addressed the court, saying she wanted Pistorius' mental health to be examined. Her intervention was dismissed.

Later, there was a brief adjournment because of an unspecified "threat" to the court building. 

The chaotic scenes in court meant that a bail decision, which had been due on Thursday, was postponed until Friday.

Dubbed the "Blade Runner," Pistorius maintains he fired into his locked bathroom in a panic over a possible prowler. However, prosecutors say the 26-year-old put on his artificial legs and stalked Steenkamp to the bathroom to kill her.

Magistrate Desmond Nair said police had showed a lack of urgency in obtaining phone records, and asked Botha why he had given evidence in English rather than his first language, Afrikaans.

After discussion of the Botha revelations, lawyers from both sides began making their final arguments.

Pistorius’ defense lawyer referred to the "poor quality" of evidence gathered by police and said there was no evidence that the sprinter had committed premeditated murder.

He said Steenkamp spending the night at Pistorius' home was "consistent with a loving relationship.”

A prosecution lawyer called Pistorius' account of Steenkamp's death "improbable," saying: "The only reason you'd fire four shots is to kill."

'Stay strong'
The lawyer said the discovery of bullet cartridges in Pistorius' bathroom suggested a deliberate killing at close range.

At one stage, Pistorius began sobbing and his brother, Carl, placed a hand on his back to comfort him. He also whispered: "Stay strong."

Alexander Joe / AFP - Getty Images

South African Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius appears in court on Thursday.

The prosecution produced a magazine article in which Pistorius talked about having a house in Italy, saying it was evidence that the athlete could easily skip bail and leave South Africa.

Prosecutors also raised the prospect that Pistorius might interfere with witnesses if released on bail. The court heard that Pistorius allegedly tried to manipulate evidence after a previous incident in which his gun was accidentally fired at a restaurant.

Magistrate Nair asked if there would be shock if Pistorius was released on bail. A defense lawyer said there were be shock if the athlete was not released, referring to apparent weaknesses in the prosecution case.

Botha, an experienced detective, testified on Wednesday that a witness heard shouting for an hour coming from the house shortly before the shooting.

Another witness heard gunshots, saw lights on in the house, heard a woman screaming two or three times, then heard another few shots, Botha said.

But under cross-examination, Botha admitted one of the witnesses was 1,000 feet away from the house at the time.

Botha told the court that needles and testosterone were found in the athlete's bedroom.

Defense lawyer Barry Roux disputed that claim, saying the substance was in fact a herbal remedy and that police had misread the label. State prosecutor Gerrie Nel also had to correct Botha when he initially called the substance "steroids."

On the first day of the hearing, prosecutors and the defense presented clashing accounts of how and why Pistorius shot Steenkamp.

A court statement from Pistorius denied "in the strongest terms" that he had deliberately killed the law graduate, adding that the athlete was "deeply in love'' with her, according to Reuters.

"I had no intention to kill my girlfriend," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Nike on Thursday said it had suspended its sponsorship of Pistorius.

“We believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process and we will continue to monitor the situation closely,'” the sportswear company said in a statement.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Lead detective in Pistorius case faces attempted murder charges

Pistorius' uncle: Olympian is in shock, 'will bounce back'

Pistorius: I felt 'sense of terror' on night I mistakenly shot girlfriend

This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:12 AM EST

Oscar Pistorius' uncle says the Olympic sprinter is in "extreme shock" -- barely eating and spending his time reading the Bible -- but will "bounce back and be greater than ever" when his murder case is over.

In an interview that aired Wednesday night on the South African television network eNCA, Arnold Pistorius called his nephew a "soft person" and said he's certain he is not guilty of charges he intentionally killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

"Oscar will survive. He will have a tough time going forward, but he is a survivor," the uncle said.

"Nobody can be the same ever again if such a tragedy comes over your life but he will bounce back and be greater than ever.”

His prediction came after the athlete's lawyers and prosecutors faced off in a South African courtroom for the second day of a hearing that will determine if the 26-year-old runner gets bail or sent to prison until a trial. The hearing continues Thursday.

Pistorius, the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics, has been in custody since the Valentine's Day shooting at his Pretoria home.

"He spent a lot of time reading, especially reading his Bible...His mother was extremely religious," Arnold Pistorius said, adding that his nephew had only started eating again Tuesday night.

Pistorius, who claims he thought a prowler was in his house when he shot through a locked bathroom door and killed his model girlfriend, has sobbed through some of the court proceedings.

"He's grieving. He is in extreme shock. I don't expect it to get over it even soon," the uncle said, but added that the Olympian's life and career are far from over.

"I can tell you that Oscar, with his character, is able to work through this," he said. "He will bounce back and be greater than ever."

During Wednesday's hearing, Pistorius' lawyer subjected a police official to a tough cross examination in which he admitted a witness who heard an hour of screaming before the shooting was a thousand feet away from the apartment.

Warrant Officer Hilton Botha disputed Pistorius's version of the shooting, in which he claimed to have opened fire after rushing to the bathroom on his stumps in a panic.

He said the downward trajectory of the shots suggested Pistorius had on the artificial legs that gave him the nickname Blade Runner and aimed at someone on the toilet.

"I believe he knew she was in the bathroom," Botha testified.

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Oscar Pistorius in court: Defense exposes cracks in police evidence

Pistorius: I felt 'sense of terror' on night I mistakenly shot girlfriend

Sportscaster: Pistorius was 'jumpy' about safety

Stephane De Sakutin / AFP - Getty Images

South African Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius appears at the Magistrate Court in Pretoria on Feb. 19. His bail hearing continues Wednesday.

A South African judge will hear more arguments Wednesday before deciding whether Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius should be denied bail and sent to a prison where other inmates have complained about ghastly conditions.

A day after prosecutors and the defense presented clashing accounts of how and why Pistorius fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, the two sides will spar over where he should spend the months before a trial.

Pistorius arrived in court Wednesday wearing a black suit and blue tie. Prosecutors alleged that a witness heard a "non-stop" argument coming from the Paralympian's home before the shooting.

South African legal experts say that after hearing from witnesses, the magistrate will be asked to evaluate the strength of the prosecution's case and consider whether the double-amputee is a flight risk, a danger to anyone, or likely to intimidate witnesses or destroy evidence.

"Personally, my view is he should get bail because he's got a fixed permanent residence, has no previous convictions, and owns assets in the jurisdiction of the court. He's disabled and easily recognizable," said Steve Tuson, a law professor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

But bail could be a tough sell since the judge provisionally entered a charge of premeditated murder after Tuesday's hearing — where Pistorius claimed he fired into his bathroom in a panic over a possible prowler, while prosecutors alleged he calmly put on his artificial legs before he stalked Steenkamp to the bathroom to kill her.

Unless the magistrate, Desmond Nair, downgrades the charge after Wednesday's hearing, or the defense convinces him there are extraordinary reasons Pistorius should remain free, the trail-blazing runner is headed to lockup.

Since his arrest, Pistorius, 26, has been held at a local police station, but that's unusual and it's expected he would be transferred to Pretoria's central prison to await further proceedings, experts said.

"It's not too pleasant," Marius du Toit, a South African defense lawyer who has also been a prosecutor and magistrate, said of the central prison.

"I've represented people from overseas who were incarcerated in our prisons. One lost 20 kilos because the food and conditions are so bad. He said, 'I've been in prisons all over Europe and I've never seen anything like this.'"

Two weeks before Pistorius' arrest, six inmates from the Pretoria prison petitioned the High Court to improve conditions, painting a grim picture of daily life behind its walls.

Their complaints included up to three inmates in single-person cells, dirty mattresses with no bedding, sweltering heat and poor ventilation, no time outside, rampant drug dealing and violent threats from fellow prisoners, according to the Pretoria News.

The court has not ruled on the application, which the government planned to oppose, the newspaper said.

Du Toit said that Pistorius' high profile and disability could be grounds for some kind of accommodation if he is sent to prison, but added that officials will be loathe to give him special treatment because the decision to hold him at the police station before the bail hearing was questioned.

If he does wind up behind bars, he could be there for months before a trial and verdict -- which is delivered by a judge since jury trial were done away with in 1969.

Prosecutors and the defense team will be given time to marshal evidence before a trial date is set in stone, Tuson said.

Before the constitutional changes that accompanied the end of the apartheid era in South Africa, prosecutors could keep most of their case under wraps until trial. Now, they have to share all their evidence, Tuson said.

While U.S. trials are often delayed by endless haggling over what evidence is admissible at trial, in South Africa those decisions are made by the judge during the trial.

Tuson said the timeline from charge to verdict normally depends on the complexity of the case, the number of witnesses and how crowded the court docket is. Because the country's judicial system is so clogged, run-of-the-mill cases can face "horrible delays," he said.

Pistorius, however, could be fast-tracked due to the high-profile nature of the case. Tuson predicted the whole thing will be over in six months.

"Because of the media coverage, the state will push for this cases to be held as quickly as possible," du Toit said.

This story was originally published on Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:12 PM EST

Alexander Joe / AFP - Getty Images

Pallbearers carry the coffin of the late South African model Reeva Steenkamp into the crematorium building in Port Elizabeth Tuesday.

The funeral of model and law-school graduate Reeva Steenkamp – slain by her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius – was held in South Africa Tuesday.

As a magistrate ruled he would be prosecuted for premeditated murder, family and friends of Steenkamp spoke of their grief.

Pistorius’ lawyers have admitted he shot Steenkamp while she was in a small, locked bathroom, but claim he thought she was an intruder.

Adam Steenkamp, Reeva’s brother, spoke to reporters after the service at a 90-seat chapel in Port Elizabeth, where Steenkamp grew up.

Alexander Joe / AFP - Getty Images

A mourner at model Reeva Steenkamp's funeral holds the ceremony program Tuesday.

“There’s a space missing inside all the people that she knew,” he said.

“Everyone is sad understandably, but at certain points we were smiling whilst remembering Reeva because we only have good memories of her,” he added.

'He's a danger'
Reeva’s uncle Mike Steenkamp thanks people who had sent message of support, saying he had been “amazed” that people were “so touched by Reeva’s passing away.”

A cousin, Sharon, said that Reeva’s “love is in our hearts.”

Referring to the bail hearing Tuesday, one mourner, Gavin Venter, an ex-jockey who worked for Reeva's father, told Reuters that Pistorius should remain in jail.

"Without a doubt. He's a danger to the public. He'll be a danger to witnesses. He must stay in jail. He's already shown how dangerous he can be for what he did to Reeva," he said.

Her mother, June Steenkamp, said in an interview with The Times of Johannesburg, that her bubbly, blonde daughter was "the most beautiful person who ever lived."

"Why my little girl?" she said.

"All we have is this horrendous death to deal with ... to get to grips with," she added. "All we want are answers ... answers as to why this had to happen, why our beautiful daughter had to die like this."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Prosecution: Nothing to support claim Pistorius thought girlfriend was intruder

Mother of Pistorius' slain girlfriend: 'Why my little girl?'

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius said Tuesday that he had heard a noise in the bathroom and felt “a sense of terror” on the night he fatally shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, insisting he thought someone had broken into his South Africa home.

In a statement read to a court hearing, the double-amputee Olympic and Paralympic star wrote that he loved Steenkamp "deeply." He also said he had received death threats in the past and kept a firearm beside his bed.

Earlier Tuesday, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel insisted there was nothing to support Pistorius’ claim that he feared there was an intruder in the house when he killed Steenkamp. She was shot dead through the door of a small bathroom in Pistorius’ home in a suburb of Pretoria early on Valentine’s Day.

Nel said she had "nowhere" to go and her death must have been "horrific," insisting Pistorius was guilty of premeditated murder.

The claims were made at a bail hearing -- described as a “little trial” by one expert -- that is being held to determine whether Pistorius should be freed pending trial.

Magistrate Desmond Nair ruled that Pistorius would face a charge of premeditated murder, but the hearing was adjourned until Wednesday morning.

As the defense and prosecution lawyers argued, the family and friends of the slain model and law-school graduate Steenkamp held a tearful funeral in her hometown.

As his statement was read to the court, Pistorius sobbed uncontrollably at times, prompting Nair to say, "I know it's difficult. ... I'm going to find it difficult to concentrate. ... Maintain your composure."

'She died in my arms'
The statement denied "in the strongest terms" that Pistorius had deliberately killed Steenkamp, adding that the athlete was "deeply in love'' with her, according to Reuters.

"I had no intention to kill my girlfriend," the statement said.

According to Pistorius' account, he and Steenkamp had decided to "have a quiet dinner together at home" and by about 10 p.m. they had retired to his bedroom, where she was doing yoga as he was lying down and watching television. After finishing her yoga, she got into bed with him and the two fell asleep, Pistorius' statement said.

During the early morning hours, it said, Pistorius woke up and went to his bedroom balcony to bring a fan inside and close the sliding glass doors and blinds.

"I heard a noise in my bathroom. ... I felt a sense of terror. ... I believed that someone had entered my house. ... I grabbed my 9mm pistol," it said.

Pistorius' statement said contractors had been working at his house and had left ladders outside, and there were no security bars on the bathroom window. The bathroom contained a separate toilet area with its own door.

“As I did not have my prosthetic legs on I felt extremely vulnerable. I had to protect Reeva and myself. ... I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps,” it said.

The statement then described Pistorius hearing movement inside the bathroom. "I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted at Reeva to phone the police," it said. "She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.

"When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet."

The statement also described Pistorius trying to open the locked bathroom door but failing, then grabbing a cricket bat to smash open the door. "Reeva was slumped over but alive. I battled to get her out of the toilet and pulled her into the bathroom."

Pistorius’ statement said that moments after the shooting he “picked Reeva up as I'd been told not to wait for the paramedics. ... She died in my arms.”

Earlier in the hearing, Nel said Steenkamp had arrived in Pistorius' home sometime between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the night before she died.

There was "no possible explanation to support" Pistorius' claim that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder, Nel said.

And he added that even if Steenkamp had been an intruder, the shooting would still have been the murder of a burglar.

Nel said Pistorius had armed himself, put on his prosthetic legs, walked to the bathroom and shot Steenkamp several times through the locked door as she sat on the toilet. "She locked that door for a purpose," Nel said.

"If I arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated," he said, according to Reuters. "The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven meters (just over 22 feet) and I kill."

"The motive is 'I want to kill.' That's it," he added. "This deceased was in a 1.4- (4.5 feet) by 1.14-meter little room. She could go nowhere. It must have been horrific."

The prosecutor also asked why a burglar would have locked himself inside the bathroom.

After the shooting, Pistorius carried Steenkamp downstairs, where he met a security guard and a friend, according to the prosecution, and told them that he had thought she had been an intruder.

Pistorius' defense argued the sports star was not guilty of murder for that reason.

The defense lawyer claimed other husbands had shot their wives thinking they were intruders and asked, "Where's the premeditation?"

Following the defense's statements, Nel said he was now "more convinced" about what happened.

Karyn Maughan, legal correspondent for South Africa news channel ENCA, told NBC's TODAY that if a premeditated murder charge stands, there would be dire consequences for Pistorius.

“If he can’t prove that her death was unintentional, then it is unlikely he will get bail and he also faces a life sentence in jail,” she said. “He must try to convince the court he shot her in confusion, thinking she was an intruder."

Pistorius has hired his own high-profile forensic expert to analyze the police reports and post-mortem exam, ENCA reported. His defense team includes lawyer Kenny Oldwage, who previously won an acquittal for a driver accused of killing Nelson Mandela's great-grandchild in a 2010 accident.

'Why my little girl?'
Model and law-school graduate Steenkamp's relatives are hoping for answers.

"Why my little girl?" her mother, June Steenkamp, said in an interview with The Times of Johannesburg, calling her bubbly, blond daughter "the most beautiful person who ever lived."

"All we have is this horrendous death to deal with ... to get to grips with," she said. "All we want are answers ... answers as to why this had to happen, why our beautiful daughter had to die like this."

Steenkamp's family and friends gathered at a 90-seat chapel in Port Elizabeth, where Steenkamp grew up, for her funeral.

"She's my little sister and she's gone," her brother, Adam, told ENCA. "There is a big hole there that cannot be filled by anything else."

Steenkamp and Pistorius had been dating for about three months, and she tweeted a Valentine's Day message hours before her death.

The track star, who captivated the world when he became the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics at last summer's London Games, was a gun enthusiast who once took a reporter writing a profile of him to a firing range.

A South African newspaper reported Monday that he nearly shot a friend by accident while handling another friend's gun at a Johannesburg restaurant.

"I had quite a fright because the bullet hit the ground centimeters from my foot," boxer Kevin Lerena told the Beeld newspaper, according to Agence France-Presse.

"For some reason it got caught on his trousers, flipped the safety pin and a shot went off. I wouldn't say he was negligent. Days afterwards he was still apologizing."

NBC News Staff Writers Ian Johnston and John Newland and Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:01 AM EST