Hilton Botha, the lead investigator in the murder case against Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius, has resigned from the South Africa Police service, it was announced Thursday.
Botha was dropped from the Pistorius investigation after it emerged that he himself was facing seven counts of attempted murder for which he is due to stand trial in May.
The charges against him from a 2011 incident where the investigator allegedly fired his weapon at a minibus taxi loaded with passengers.
Ever before his removal from the Pistorius case, Botha faced accusations of sloppy work at the crime scene investigation. He also faced wide-spread criticism for giving contradictory evidence at Pistorius' bail hearing.
On the day preceding his dismissal from the case, Botha admitted under defense cross-examination that police had no evidence contradicting the athlete's version of events that led to the deadly shooting incident.
Pistorius has been charged with premeditated murder in the February 14 shooting death of his former girlfriend, 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp. The athlete claims that he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for a burglar. Pistorius, who was granted bail on February 22, is due to appear in court for the next hearing in June.
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