14-year-old girl killed in Griekwastad farm murder left a trail of blood

The 14-year-old girl killed in the Griekwastad farm murder left a trail of blood through the kitchen on her way to try and reach the telephone, the Northern Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

"It will be one of those days that will not be pleasant," prosecutor Hannes Cloete warned relatives in court before photographs taken of the crime scene and of the post mortems were shown.

He then led police crime scene expert Captain Marius Joubert in his evidence-in-chief. He is a crime scene and blood spatter expert from the police forensic science laboratory in Cape Town.

Joubert said the blood from the gunshot wound to Marthella Steenkamp's chest flowed down her body, her right leg and arm, right hand and dripped onto her feet. She left a trail of drops from the kitchen back door, through the washing room (scullery) and into the kitchen.

He showed the court photographs of where the girl, covered in blood, had leaned against the kitchen counter. The blood trail went around the counter to where the telephone was.

Halfway to the phone she stopped between the counter and the wooden dining room table. There was a collection of blood spatters on the floor and a bloody handprint on the dining room table.

"The spatters are concentrated in one area. The victim must have stood for a while and left blood to collect," Joubert said.

The court heard on Monday that Marthella Steenkamp was shot once in the chest and three times in the head. She collapsed and died near the phone.

Referring to a blood smear found near her father, Deon Steenkamp, Joubert said it was created by a forearm which had moved inwards towards the body.

"Possibly by the victim to make himself comfortable... pulling in [his] arm."

Northern Cape Judge President Frans Kgomo is hearing evidence in the trial of a 17-year-old youth accused of the murders of farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christel, 43, and their daughter Marthella. They were shot dead on their farm Naauwhoek, near Griekwastad, on April 6, 2012.

State witness Warrant Officer Phillip Bekker of the crime scene unit and laboratory in Port Elizabeth was excused from the stand after the defence team decided they had no questions for him.

The trial continues.