1.51pm BST 
 
 With the hearing over for the day, it's time for a closing summary. This will be very similar to the lunchtime summary, as we only had about 45 minutes of evidence in the afternoon: 
 
 
 
 • Oscar Pistorius has taken to the witness stand to begin giving evidence in his murder trial. He began with a tearful, broken-voiced apology to the family and friends of Reeva Steenkamp, his girlfriend who he shot in February last year, believing – he says – she was an intruder. 
 
 • Pistorius said there is "not a moment" when he does not think about her family, and prays for them daily. He added: "I've tried to put my words on paper many times to write to you but no words would ever suffice" 
 
 • Pistorius said he had taken anti-depressants and sleeping pills since the shooting, often waking with "terrible nightmares" in which he dreamed he could smell blood. He said he often calls his sister to sit with him during the night. On one occasion he climbed into a cupboard to call her. 
 
 • He said his religious faith was the only thing to sustain him over the past year: "There have been times when I've just been struggling a lot. My God is a God of refuge." 
 
 • Pistorius spoke at length about his fear about, and experience of, crime. He said his his mother was worried about intruders and kept a pistol under her pillow 
 
 • Pistorius said a speedboat accident in 2009 which almost killed him left him fearful and withdrawn. 
 
 • Earlier, the first defence witness was a pathologist, Prof Jan Botha, who questioned prosecution evidence that Steenkamp must have eaten about two hours before her death at 3am, something which runs counter to Pistorius's statement that they went to bed at 10pm. 
 
 • Botha was questioned aggressively and at length by the prosecution counsel, Gerrie Nel, giving a taste of the likely cross-examination Pistorius will face. 
 
 
 
 • While this evidence was heard, including details of Steenkamp's injuries and photos of wounds and blood, Pistorius spent much of the time with his hands over his face, also retching. ||||| The prosecution case against Oscar Pistorius began to unravel Wednesday with revelations of a series of police blunders and the lead investigator's admission that authorities have no evidence challenging the double-amputee Olympian's claim he killed his girlfriend accidentally. 
 
 Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands inside the court as a police officer looks on during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. A South African... (Associated Press) 
 
 Investigating officer Hilton Botha, sits inside the court witness box during the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Olympic athlete... (Associated Press) 
 
 Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands inside the court as a police officer looks on during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. A South African... (Associated Press) 
 
 Detective Hilton Botha's often confused testimony left prosecutors rubbing their heads in frustration as he misjudged distances and said testosterone _ banned for professional athletes in some cases _ was found at the scene, only to be later contradicted by the prosecutor's office. 
 
 The second day of what was supposed to be a mere bail hearing almost resembled a full-blown trial for the 26-year-old runner, with his lawyer, Barry Roux, tearing into Botha's testimony step by step during cross examination. 
 
 Police, Botha acknowledged, left a 9 mm slug from the barrage that killed Reeva Steenkamp inside a toilet and lost track of illegal ammunition found inside the house. And the detective himself walked through the crime scene without wearing protective shoe covers, potentially contaminating the area. 
 
 Authorities, Roux asserted, were selectively taking "every piece of evidence to try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court." 
 
 The case has riveted South Africa, with journalists and the curious crowding into the brick-walled courtroom where Pistorius, dubbed the Blade Runner for his prosthetic legs, faces a charge of premeditated murder in the Valentine's Day slaying. 
 
 Pistorius says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and shot her out of fear, while prosecutors say he planned the killing and attacked her as she cowered behind a locked bathroom door. 
 
 The day seemed to start out well for the prosecution, with Botha offering new details of the shooting that appeared to call into question Pistorius' account of the moments leading up to the 29-year-old model's death. 
 
 Ballistic evidence, he said, showed the bullets that killed her had been fired from a height, supporting the prosecution's assertion that Pistorius was wearing prosthetic legs when he took aim at the bathroom door. The athlete has maintained he was standing only on his stumps, and felt vulnerable and frightened as he opened fire from a low position. 
 
 Projecting a diagram of the bedroom and bathroom, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it showed Pistorius had to walk past his bed to get to bathroom and could not have done so without seeing that Steenkamp was not asleep there. 
 
 "There's no other way of getting there," Nel said in disputing Pistorius' claim that he had no idea Steenkamp was no longer in bed when he pumped four bullets into the bathroom door, striking her with three. 
 
 Botha backed the prosecutor up, saying the holster for Pistorius' 9 mm pistol was found under the left side of the bed, where Steenkamp slept, and it would have been impossible for Pistorius to get the gun without checking to see if she was there. 
 
 "I believe that he knew that Reeva was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door," the detective said. 
 
 Botha described how bullets struck Steenkamp in the head and shattered her right arm and hip, eliciting sobs from Pistorius, who held his head in hands. 
 
 However, when asked if Steenkamp's body showed "any pattern of defensive wounds" or bruising from an assault, Botha said "no." He again responded "no" when asked if investigators found anything inconsistent with Pistorius' version of events, though he later said nothing contradicted the police version either. 
 
 Testimony began with the prosecutor telling the court that before the shooting, a neighbor heard "nonstop" shouting between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. at Pistorius' upscale home in a gated community in the capital, Pretoria. 
 
 However, Botha later said under cross examination that the witness was in a house 600 yards (meters) away, possibly out of earshot. He cut that estimate in half when questioned again by the prosecutor, as confusion reigned for much of his testimony. 
 
 At one point, Botha told the court that police found syringes and two boxes of testosterone in Pistorius' bedroom _ testimony the prosecution later withdrew, saying it was too early to identify the substance, which was still being tested. 
 
 "It is not certain (what it is) until the forensics" are completed, Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, told The Associated Press. It's not clear if it was "a legal or an illegal medication for now." 
 
 The defense also disputed the claim. "It is an herbal remedy," Roux said. "It is not ... a banned substance." 
 
 Still, Botha offered potentially damaging details about Pistorius' past, saying the athlete was once involved in an accidental shooting at a restaurant in Johannesburg and asked someone else "to take the wrap." 
 
 The runner also threatened men on two separate occasions, Botha said, allegedly telling one he'd "break his legs." 
 
 The detective said police found two iPhones in Pistorius' bathroom and two BlackBerrys in his bedroom, and none had been used to phone for help. Guards at the gated community did call the athlete, Botha said, and all he said was: "I'm all right," as he wept uncontrollably. 
 
 Roux later suggested that a fifth phone, not collected by the police, was used by Pistorius to call for help. 
 
 The question now is whether Botha's troubled testimony will be enough to convince Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair to keep Pistorius in prison until trial. While Pistorius faces the harshest bail requirements under South African law, the magistrate has said he would consider loosening them based on testimony in the hearing. Final arguments were scheduled for Thursday. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Gerald Imray reported from Johannesburg. Associated Press writer Michelle Faul in Johannesburg contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP. Gerald Imray can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/geraldimrayAP. ||||| The sensational trial of Olympian Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius — charged with premeditated murder for killing his girlfriend with four shots fired through his bathroom door on Valentine’s Day of last year — resumed on Monday after a 17-day hiatus. 
 
 Following weeks of drama fit for the big screen — which was broadcast on small screens in South Africa and around the world — chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel called for a break, citing schedule conflicts. Judge Thokozile Masipa approved because the case was dragging on longer than she had expected. 
 
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 The defense is picking back up with the first person Pistorius called after the shooting, neighbor Johan Stander, on Monday. 
 
 Here's a refresher of what has already developed since the beginning of the trial on March 3. 
 
 The Prosecution 
 
 Pistorius claims he shot and killed his law student and model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, because he thought she was an intruder and felt vulnerable without his prosthetic legs. The state contests he intentionally murdered the woman after a bitter argument. 
 
 The prosecution opened with testimony from the Pistorius' neighbors, who said they heard a man and a woman yelling, followed by gunshots and then, silence. A security guard then recounted the next portion of the saga, in which Pistorius told him everything was "fine," only minutes after shooting Steenkamp. 
 
 Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts during his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, on March 10, 2014. An overcome Oscar Pistorius vomited in court on Monday as he listened to harrowing expert testimony about the autopsy of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, whom he is accused of murdering. Bongiwe Mchunu/AFP/Getty Images BONGIWE MCHUNU / Pool via AFP - Getty Images 
 
 Others called by the prosecution painted a picture of a trigger-happy and temperamental Pistorius, not the heroic athlete that the double-amputee Olympian was once lauded as. 
 
 Pistorius’ ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, testified that Pistorius kept a gun by his bedside table. She also noted that her ex "sounds like a man," when he screams — disputing an assertion brought by lead defense lawyer Barry Roux that screams heard by neighbors were those of Pistorius alone, not Steenkamp. 
 
 And Taylor said she knew those screams well, claiming Pistorius often yelled at her, before ending the years-long relationship by cheating on her with Steenkamp. 
 
 Text messages from Steenkamp were read aloud to further shed light on Pistorius’ short temper. "I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you will act towards me," said one. 
 
 The longer string of text message conversations between the couple, the majority of which, Roux pointed out, were loving, caused Pistorius to break down crying, something that he was prone to do, especially when details of the crime scene were shared. 
 
 “I remember. I don’t have to look at a picture. I was there.” 
 
 When portions of the autopsy on Steenkamp’s body were read by a pathologist, Pistorius retched and threw up. He vomited again when close-up images of Steenkamp’s mutilated corpse were displayed. Pistorius covered his ears with his hands while a police ballistics expert said Steenkamp was in a "defensive position" when she was shot. 
 
 The Defense 
 
 Throughout the prosecution, Roux has sought to prove that the crime scene had been handled carelessly by police, which he argued would have contaminated evidence. 
 
 Roux first called a pathologist to the stand, and pictures of the bloodied bathroom and body were once again exhibited, leading Pistorius to retch once again shortly before he testified. 
 
 But Pistorius composed himself and preceded his statements with an apology to Steenkamp’s family, which appeared to do little to affect her mother, who sat nearly expressionless during the beginning of the the runner’s testimony. 
 
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 That first day of testimony, before Pistorius was cross examined, was the defendant’s chance to portray himself as a man petrified of violence who was simply trying to protect the woman he cared for, and who cared for him. 
 
 Pistorius spent the next day on the stand recounting the night he killed his girlfriend, explaining that he thought someone had climbed into the bathroom window, but when he realized his girlfriend could be on the other side of the door, he smashed it with a cricket bat. 
 
 "I sat over Reeva and I cried,” he recalled, shaking. 
 
 Prosecutor Gerrie Nel — nicknamed "The Pitbull" — wasted no time getting to the heart of the state’s case when cross-examining the only witness who knows what happened the night Steenkamp died. 
 
 "You killed Reeva Steenkamp ... Say it," Nel demanded of Pistorius. 
 
 Pistorius’ time on the stand didn't get any easier as Nel showed a video of Pistorius practice-shooting at a watermelon, then showed a gory crime scene picture, offering a comparison of the exploding watermelon to Steenkamp's head. 
 
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 "I remember. I don’t have to look at a picture. I was there," Pistorius responded. 
 
 Nel focused on establishing that the track star "concocted" his account of the shooting, accusing him of lying, and urging Pistorius to take responsibility for Steenkamp's death. 
 
 “I blame myself for taking Reeva's life," Pistorius eventually said. 
 
 Before he left the stand, Pistorius read a Valentine’s Day card from Steenkamp — a note that Pistorius said he didn't see until after his girlfriend was dead. "I think today is a good day to tell you that … I love you,” he read aloud to the court. 
 
 The Valentines Day card and present Reeva Steenkamp gave #OscarPistorius on day before she died. @eNCAnews pic.twitter.com/1RfHXGLu6X — Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) April 15, 2014 
 
 What’s next? 
 
 Pistorius’ team will continue to try to prove that the crime scene was altered by police, and that neighbors who heard Steenkamp's screams before gunshots actually heard Pistorius’ screams before he whacked the door down with a cricket bat. 
 
 Roger Dixon, a forensic expert for the defense, already testified that the bedroom was too dark to see that Steenkamp got out of bed and said he conducted an audio test that indicated sounds of a cricket bat hitting wood could be mistaken for gunshots. 
 
 The door through which Reeva Steenkamp was shot is displayed during Oscar Pistorius' murder trial in Pretoria April 14, 2014. Olympic and Paralympic track star Pistorius is on trial for murdering his girlfriend Steenkamp at his suburban Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year. Antoine de Ras / Pool via Reuters 
 
 In coming days, Roux is expected to call a witness who will testify that Pistorius' screams hit high pitches when he is anxious and a psychologist to dissect Pistorius’ claims of constantly feeling defenseless, according to South Africa’s Eyewitness News. 
 
 The first person Pistorius called after the shooting, neighbor Johan Stander, took the stand on Monday. 
 
 Roux has said he will call between 14 and 17 witnesses, according to The Associated Press, meaning nearly a dozen or more could remain. 
 
 The defendant’s reaction to those testimonies could be under close scrutiny after a South African columnist accused Pistorius of “taking acting lessons for your days in court.” 
 
 A post on Pistorius’ website said the claim was "devoid of all truth." 
 
 The validity of Pistorius’ show of emotion is important because the display "may affect [the] sentence because someone who is remorseful, who has committed a crime, can sometimes affect a judge," attorney Tom Mesereau, who has represented a range of high-profile clients, said on MSNBC last month. 
 
 And Pistorius’ fate lies solely in the hands of Judge Masipa and her two assessors, since South Africa has no trial by jury. 
 
 If Masipa decides, after weeks of testimony, that Pistorius is guilty of murder, he faces a minimum of 15 to 25 years in prison. Lesser charges, which could include culpable homicide and illegally possessing ammunition, might mean prison time or simply fines for the once-revered athlete. 
 
 The trial resumes.
– Oscar Pistorius' defense team is launching its case, and yet again, the testimony seems to have been too much for the athlete to take. Pistorius threw up multiple times—now a frequent occurrence—into a bucket as a forensic pathologist discussed the bullet wounds that killed Reeva Steenkamp, Reuters reports. The pathologist, Jannie Botha, agreed with the state pathologist regarding the sequence of shots that hit Steenkamp. A sobbing Pistorius and others in the court couldn't bear to look at graphic photos displayed, NBC News notes. Next, Pistorius himself took the witness stand and began by apologizing to Steenkamp's family. "There is not a moment and there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family," he said, struggling to speak clearly through emotion. Other noteworthy moments, via the Guardian: Pistorius said he has trouble sleeping. "I have terrible nightmares about what happened that night. I wake up and I can smell blood." He often calls his sister for help, once doing so from inside a cupboard, he said. He added that he never wanted to touch a gun again. He discussed his close relationship with his mother and her sudden death when he was a teenager. As for his physical abilities without his prosthetics, a question central to the shooting: "I don't have balance on my stumps. I can stand on my stumps. I can't stand still on my stumps."