A blood splattered cricket bat, a pistol on the mat and a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs - this is the horrific scene faced by police when they entered Oscar Pistorius's home.
The photographs show the blood-soaked bathroom in his villa in Pretoria where the runner shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
The gun used to kill Miss Steenkamp lies on a small mat while a bloodied cricket bat lies nearby.
The Olympic Blade Runner, 27, claims he used the bat to break down the toilet door after he shot his
girlfriend by mistake.
Another image shows a pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase as well as specks on the walls
Pistorius was expected to take to the stand last week to testify at his murder trial but court was immediately adjourned because one of the judge's two assessors was unwell in hospital.
The double-amputee Paralympic champion is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for killing lover Reeva Steenkamp.
Defence lawyers for the runner, who is the only eyewitness in the case, were due to begin their case last week after four weeks of prosecution-led testimony.
But Judge Thokozile Masipa said that one of her two assessors, legal experts who are helping her with the case, was unwell and that the trial had to be delayed until April 7 as the court would not be properly constituted.
Prosecutors took 15 days to lay out their case against the 27-year-old, arguing he deliberately killed Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year by firing four rounds from a 9 mm pistol through a closed toilet door.
Several neighbours testified to hearing a woman's terrified screams before a volley of shots, countering Pistorius' assertions that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the toilet cubicle in the middle of the night.
The world-famous athlete pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and also not guilty to three other firearm-related counts.
The trial has gripped South Africa and millions of athletics fans around the world who saw Pistorius as a symbol of triumph over physical adversity.
TIMELINE OF THE MURDER TRIAL SO FAR.............................
March 3: The trial begins with testimony from neighbour Michell Burger who claims she heard 'blood-curdling screams' before gunshots were fired at the time Oscar Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp. His lawyer Barry Roux says he intends to call a witness to testify that Pistorius screams sounded like a woman in a bid to discredit the claims.
March 4: Pistorius breaks down in court as Mr Roux argues that Miss Steenkamp was so badly brain damaged by the gunshot to her head she couldn't possibly have screamed for help.
March 5: Mr Roux seeks to undermine the testimony of a couple who say they heard a woman's screams and gunfire on the night the athlete shot his girlfriend.
Barry Roux said similarities in the accounts given by husband and wife Michell Burger and Charl Johnson indicated they had aligned their versions at the expense of the truth.
March 6: Pistorius weeps in the dock as a neighbour describes the harrowing moment he tried to resuscitate his girlfriend after she was shot.
Radiologist Johan Stipp dashed to the Paralympian's home after hearing gunshots to find Pistorius kneeling next to Reeva Steenkamp and 'praying to God' that she would survive, the trial heard.
March 8: A former girlfriend who claims Pistorius dumped her for Miss Steenkamp testifies that he once shot at a traffic light because he was furious that a police officer had touched his gun.
March 10: Pistorius vomits in court when a pathologist describes how he shot Miss Steenkamp with so-called cop-killer Black Talon bullets which are designed to 'expand and mushroom' to inflict maximum damage.
March 11: A friend tells the judge that the Paralympian has a 'big love' of weapons and recalls the time the athlete laughed after allegedly firing his gun out of the sunroof of a car.
March 12: A forensic analyst stages a dramatic courtroom reconstruction of the moment Pistorius broke down the toilet door with a cricket bat after shooting Miss Steenkamp. Police colonel Johannes Vermeulen argued that Pistorius was on his stumps at the time, contradicting the Paralympian's assertion that he was wearing his prosthetic legs.
March 13: Horrific pictures following the trail of blood through Pistorius's house are shown at the trial - including one of his girlfriend's corpse that made the athlete throw up in the dock. The image of Miss Steenkamp's blood-covered body was accidentally shown while the prosecution was showing other images including the cocked 9mm pistol used to kill the model.
March 14: Dramatic pictures are shown to the court of a bare-chested Pistorius with blood all over his shorts and prosthetic legs shortly after killing his model girlfriend.
March 17: A gun licenser testifies that Pistorius was in the process of buying seven guns - three shotguns, two revolvers, semi-automatic assault rifle and another self-loading rifle - at the time he killed his girlfriend.
The order, which came to $5,000 (£3,000), was cancelled a month after the shooting.
Earlier, the court heard the double-amputee had a 'great love and enthusiasm' for guns and once went into full 'combat mode' after hearing a possible intruder at his home. The noise turned out to be a washing machine.
Pistorius had also passed self-defence tests that stated you shouldn't fire unless you knew what you are shooting at and what lay behind the target, the trial heard.
March 19: The trial is told that Pistorius looked at porn and car websites the night before he killed Miss Steenkamp.
He breaks down in the dock as a ballistics expert tells Pretoria's High Court that Miss Steenkamp was struck in the hip by the first bullet, then fell back on to a magazine holder by the toilet.
She was then hit by another two bullets which struck her in the right arm and her skull as she crossed her arms over her head to protect herself.
March 20: It is revealed by the runner's lawyer that he has been forced to sell the luxury villa where he shot Miss Steenkamp to raise money to pay for his legal bills.
March 24: The court hears how the 29-year-old model admitted to being scared of the South African track star in text messages sent less than three weeks before her death. One of them read: 'I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me'. A later text said: 'I can’t be attacked by outsider for dating u and be attacked by you the person I deserve protection from.'
March 25: A selfie of Miss Steenkamp blowing a kiss which she sent to Pistorius weeks before he killed her is shown to the court.
March 28: Trial is adjourned until April 7 after one of the judge's two assessors is taken ill in hospital.
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