Roux challenged the claim that Pistorius put on his prostheses before shooting and argued the runner believed the person in the bathroom was an intruder.
“I will put before court case after case where husbands through accident shot wives… believing it was an intruder,” said Roux. “Is that now preplanned murder?”
Roux also claimed Pistorius had broken down the door to help Steenkamp, who had been going out with the athlete since late last year.
Magistrate Nair said he could not rule out that there was some planning involved in the killing, which may be considered as a premeditated murder for the purposes of bail.
Gavin Venter, an ex-jockey who worked with Steenkamp’s race horse trainer father, said Pistorius should not be freed before the trial.
“He’s a danger to the public. He’ll be a danger to witnesses, he must stay in jail, they mustn’t release him.”
In Port Elizabeth, tearful friends and family said goodbye to Steenkamp, whose cloth-draped coffin with white flowers laid on top was carried into a chapel in the southeastern coastal city where she grew up.
“It’s kind of only sinking in now that I’m actually here, that she’s really gone,” said Bongiwe Gaxambaa, one of Steenkamp’s classmates at a local private Catholic school.
A funeral programme simply entitled “Reeva”, with the dates of her birth and death on it, showed a black-and-white portrait of Steenkamp with the words “God’s Gift, A Child” written on the back.
“He’s a danger to the public. He’ll be a danger to witnesses, he must stay in jail, they mustn’t release him.”
“There’s a space missing inside all of the people that she knew that can’t be filled again,” her brother Adam, who gave the eulogy, told reporters after the ceremony.
“We’ll miss her.”
On Saturday a celebrity television show aired haunting footage of Steenkamp speaking about the need to leave a positive mark on life, words laden with poignancy after her death.
Pistorius, who off the track has a rocky private life of rash behaviour, beautiful women, guns and fast cars, has built up a powerful team of lawyers, medical specialists and public relations experts for his defence.
Stuart Higgins, a former editor of British tabloid The Sun, whose lengthy list of clients includes British Airways, Chelsea FC and Manchester United football club, has taken over his public relations.
One of his lawyers, Kenny Oldwage, defended the driver in a 2010 accident that killed former president Nelson Mandela’s great-grandchild Zenani. The driver was acquitted.
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