Oscar Pistorius case: Family were 'shaken' by leaked photographs of star's bathroom

The comments, from Arnold Pistorius, uncle of the "Blade Runner", come as the athlete prepares once again to face the public gaze as he returns to court

Oscar Pistorius at his bail hearing in February (Themba Hadebe/AP)

The family of Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic and Paralympic athlete on trial for allegedly murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, have said they were "shaken" by pictures of the star's bloody bathroom that emerged last week.

The comments, from Arnold Pistorius, uncle of the "Blade Runner", come as the athlete prepares once again to face the public gaze as he returns to court in Pretoria tomorrow.

Arnold Pistorius said the family "fully stand behind" the Olympian as he prepares for his next court appearance.

He said: "We believe in him, love him and will support him every step of the way in what lies ahead.

"We were shaken by the graphic images, leaked into the public domain this week, of the accident scene at Oscar's house.

"It has always been our plea that the legal process be allowed its run its course with integrity.

"The leaking of evidential material into the public domain, before the court case, does not advance this process.

"We continue to have great faith in the South African legal justice system and believe that Oscar's account of what happened on that terrible night in February will be borne out by the evidence that the defence team will lead in court."

The 26-year-old six-time Paralympic sprint champion has been charged with premeditated murder, but claims he shot 29-year-old Ms Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder.

In an interview to be shown tonight the mother and father of Ms Steenkamp say "there is only one person who knows what happened" that night in February when her "terrified" daughter Reeva Steenkamp was killed .

Ms Steenkamp speaks of her desperation to know why the shooting took place, and discusses the guilt she and her husband feel about not having "protected" their daughter.

"Why? Why did he shoot her? I want to know why he shot her. Because she must have been so afraid in the toilet, and somebody's firing (a) gun, bullets through the door.

"And how terrified and already one bullet had hit her so she must have been in severe pain also, and I just feel why couldn't I have warned her, or known something about this person - that they could be capable of doing something like that.

"Because he shot her till she was dead. Shot her till she was dead and I want to know what happened. Why?

"We feel bad that we couldn't protect her. Her whole life we protected her. From the day she was born we protected her, but this we could not protect her from. Why couldn't we protect her from this?

"How did she end up with a person like this? Who could shoot her? I want to know. We don't know what happened. There is only one person who knows what happened," she told the Channel 5 programme Why Did Oscar Pistorius Kill Our Daughter?

There have been just two reported sightings of the Paralympic athlete since he was granted bail on 22.

Millions were stunned by the defining images of him leaving a police station on Valentine's Day — his head hooded and bowed, hands thrust deep into his jacket pockets and guarded by officers.

Forced out of his self-imposed isolation, Pistorius will emerge briefly for an appearance Tuesday at the same Pretoria Magistrate's Court where he was granted bail, the first step toward the trial that will eventually decide if the 26-year-old Pistorius spends a minimum of 25 years in jail.