Neues » lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games

PRETORIA, South Africa -- A South African police officer swung a cricket bat at Oscar Pistorius bullet-marked bathroom door during his murder trial on Wednesday, using two key pieces of evidence to re-enact the night he killed his girlfriend. Cheap KD Shoes Wholesale . Police Col. J.G. Vermeulen faced tough questioning from Pistorius defence lawyer, who tried to discredit the police investigation of the shooting and alleged that Vermeulen, a forensic expert, made glaring missteps in his analysis. Pistorius lawyers secured bail for him last year after contending that police contaminated or tampered with evidence from the home where he fatally shot Reeva Steenkamp, firing through the bathroom door as she cowered inside during the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day 2013. Pistorius says the killing was a mistake; the prosecution alleges the 27-year-old double-amputee intentionally shot Steenkamp after an argument. The actual door that Pistorius shot through a year ago was erected in the Pretoria courtroom Wednesday, and the bat he used that night was used in the demonstrations. There was even a toilet cubicle behind the door, recreated to the exact specifications of the small area of Pistorius bathroom where the 29-year-old model was fatally shot, Vermeulen said. Below the doors handle, four bullet holes were clearly visible. Steenkamp was hit three times in the hip, arm and head. One shot missed, the court has heard. Pistorius says he used the bat to break down the door after realizing he shot Steenkamp, mistaking her for an intruder. Kneeling, Vermeulen swung the bat to show how he believed Pistorius struck the door from a low angle, indicating he was on his stumps at the time. Defence lawyer Barry Roux insisted Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs, saying the bat marks on the door were low because he swung with a bent back. The back-and-forth over whether Pistorius, the first amputee to run at the Olympics, was on his prosthetic limbs or not is important because it could match parts of his story that he accidentally shot Steenkamp, or expose inconsistencies in it. Last year, prosecutors maintained Pistorius was on his prostheses when he fired through the door, arguing the runner planned the killing while putting on his artificial limbs. But in a reversal, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said in court Wednesday that he did not dispute the defences contention that the runner was on his stumps when he opened fire. The athlete has said he fearfully approached the bathroom on his stumps and shot Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder hiding behind the door. According to his account, he then put on his prostheses and tried to kick down the locked door, striking it with a cricket bat in a panicked attempt to reach his girlfriend. Roux turned up the pressure on Vermeulen, saying the police investigator failed to properly look at another mark on the door the defence says was made by Pistorius prosthetic leg as he tried to kick it down, leaving a piece of sock fabric lodged in the wood. The defence lawyer also indicated that police investigators might have left a shoe print on the door, the door itself might have been kept in a policemans office and not in proper evidence storage, and missing fragments from the door werent examined. Vermeulen said the door was kept in a "body bag." In an evidence photo, a faint footmark on one of the door panels could be seen. "It looks like a police shoe print," Vermeulen said. "How did that come about?" Roux asked. Vermeulen said he did not know. Earlier, Vermeulen also said a metal panel on the wall of the main bathroom in Pistorius home had been damaged by being hit with a "hard" object. The panel was new evidence. A photo of the damaged plate was shown. Pistorius faces a possible life sentence if convicted of murder for killing Steenkamp. The judge, who watched the demonstrations Wednesday, will ultimately decide on the verdict. There is no trial by jury in South Africa. Pistorius was born without fibula bones because of a congenital defect, and his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. He ran on carbon-fiber blades and is a multiple Paralympic medallist . He also competed at the London Olympics but didnt win a medal. Discount KD Shoes . -- Ben Bishop had a milestone game against one of the NHLs greatest goalies. Cheap KD Shoes Online . -- Augusta James of Bath, Ont. http://www.wholesalekdshoes.com/ .C. - The housecleaning continues for the B.CHICAGO -- Working quickly all night long, Kyle Hendricks pitched like a veteran. Its easy to see why the Chicago Cubs feel so comfortable when the rookie right-hander is on the mound. Hendricks pitched 7 1-3 innings of six-hit ball in his third consecutive win, and Chicago cooled off Wily Peralta and the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday. "He threw really well," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "He repeated his outings in terms of execution, and the calmness he shows out there." Hendricks struck out five and walked one, continuing an impressive opening run for his major league career. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.01 ERA in five starts since he got a no-decision in his debut at Cincinnati on July 10. "Every time Im going out there I just feel confident that I can make pitches," said Hendricks, who was acquired in the July 2012 trade that sent Ryan Dempster to Texas. "It grows each start, and its going to keep growing hopefully." Anthony Rizzo hit his 26th homer for Chicago, which had lost three of four. Arismendy Alcantara had two hits and drove in a run after going 1 for 14 through the first four games of the Cubs seven-game homestand. Trying for a major league-high 15th win, Peralta allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. The right-hander had won each of his last five starts and was 10-1 with a 4.06 ERA in his previous 12 games coming into the night. Peralta (14-7) has lost each of his three starts this season against last-place Chicago. He is 6-0 with a 1.10 ERA in seven games against the rest of the NL Central. "For some reason, they put together good at-bats against me," Peralta said. "As a group, theyre a young team and they have big league hitters. I think Im gonna get another chance to face them and I just want to get a win." The Cubs grabbed the lead on Justin Ruggianos RBI single in the second, and Alcantara added another run-scoring single in the fourth. Allcantaras hit drove in Starlin Castro, who reached on a leadoff double to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, the best such streak for the Cubs this year. Cheap KD Shoes China. Rizzo then led off the sixth with a towering drive to left for his first homer since July 22. "It was supposed to be down and away and I got it up," Peralta said. "When you work behind this guy, hes a pretty good hitter and hes gonna make you pay for it." Pedro Strop replaced Hendricks (4-1) with the bases loaded in the eighth and got Jonathan Lucroy to ground into an inning-ending double play. Hector Rondon then worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save in 19 chances. The Brewers had won four of five. They had their NL Central lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games over Pittsburgh, which won 4-2 at Detroit. Milwaukee centre fielder Carlos Gomez made a great leaping grab on the warning track in the first, taking extra bases away from Javier Baez. Gomez then was hit by a pitch on his right wrist in the third, but stayed in the game. TRAINERS ROOM Brewers: INFs Jean Segura and Scooter Gennett are playing with quad injuries. Manager Ron Roenicke said Segura is doing a lot better, but Gennett "is still a little bit limited." Cubs: LHP Felix Doubront (strained left calf) struck out seven while pitching four-plus innings in his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa. He was charged with three runs and four hits. ... Castro said he tweaked his left knee, but should be fine. ... Ruggiano was removed after seven innings due to "leg fatigue," Renteria said. UP NEXT Brewers RHP Kyle Lohse (11-6, 3.33 ERA) and Cubs LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1, 3.25 ERA) are slated to start the third game of the series Wednesday night. Lohse is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in two starts against Chicago this season, including a three-hitter in a 9-0 victory on June 1. Wada is making his first appearance against Milwaukee and his sixth career start overall. ' ' '