A policeman who “took charge” of the crime scene where Oscar Pistorius shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has resigned, according to the Times of South Africa.
Boschkop police station commander Colonel Schoombie van Rensburg was under “immense pressure” to resign because of “bungling” of the crime scene, the Times reported, citing unnamed police officers.
In his office, Van Rensburg kept the bathroom door through which Pistorius shot and hit Steenkamp three times. He had the door in his office for about a week after the Valentine’s Day killing, according to the report.
The door was taken from Pistorius’ Pretoria home the day after the killing.
“It was covered with a body bag, cable ties and tape,” an officer told the Times. “Records at the Boschkop shows it was booked into the SAPS 13 [storeroom], but it was kept inside Van Rensburg’s office.
“It was actually lying on the floor in front of his desk and only taken away about a week later.”
Van Rensburg said he resigned to pursue business interests and that it had nothing to do with the Pistorius case.
Van Rensburg’s resignation came nine months after former lead detective Hilton Botha quit. Botha was taken off the case one week after Steenkamp was killed when it was learned he was being investigated for seven counts of attempted murder.
Botha opened fire, along with three other police officers, on a vehicle with seven people in it in 2009.
Botha also said he didn’t wear protective shoe covers while examining the crime scene and that police left a bullet slug in the toilet where Steenkamp died, among other criticisms of his immediate handling of the case.
