The pathologist said the evidence he was about to give the court would be graphic and shocking.

So much so that when Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius heard the details Monday in a South African courtroom, it made him sick. He is on trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, News.com.AU reports.

In evidence that was ruled too distressing to be broadcast live on TV, the pathologist who carried out the autopsy on Steenkamp showed she was shot with bullets designed to mushroom on impact and cause maximum damage, according to the report.

The pathologist, Prof. Gert Saayman, also revealed bruises on the body not associated with the shooting that he said were caused by a blunt instrument.

Pistorius, 27, shot Steenkamp, 29, a law school graduate and model, four times on Valentine’s Day 2013 through a locked bathroom door in his Pretoria home.

Saayman, head of the forensic medicine at the University of Pretoria, asked prior to his testimony that it not be broadcast live on TV to protect the dignity of the deceased and spare her family from further pain.

“I have to do what my patient would have wanted me to do,” he said, according to News.com.AU.

Both the prosecution and defense supported Saayman’s request but broadcasters covering the trial raised freedom of speech issues.

Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled the evidence could not be broadcast or tweeted live from the courtroom and directed print media to paraphrase the testimony and use discretion.

But nothing could dilute the horror of Saayman’s words, or lessen the damage they caused to Pistorious’s case, the News.com.AU report asserts.

The evidence showed the following: Pistorius used hollow point bullets designed to mushroom and splinter when entering the body, causing maximum tissue damage. Steenkamp’s body had bruising not associated with the shooting. Abrasions on her body suggested she had been hit with a blunt instrument that did not break the skin. She was shot once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the head. One of the bullets that entered her skull may have passed through her arm first. She would have had a 50 percent chance of surviving if she had not been shot in the head. After the fatal head shot, she would have perhaps drawn just two more breaths.
When he heard the evidence, Pistorius vomited into a bucket. His brother Carl had to leave the courtroom. Pistorius was comforted by his sister Aimee.

Defense attorney Gary Roux will next cross-examine the witness and try to discredit Saayman’s testimony, as he has attempted to do with previous prosecution witnesses, the report said.