The trial of “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius on charges of murdering his girlfriend Reeve Steenkamp has been postponed until 19 August, which by macabre coincidence would have been the victim’s 30th birthday.

A somber and largely silent Pistorius was in court in Pretoria on Tuesday for the brief procedural hearing.  The prosecution expects to have the indictment against Pistorius finished by the next hearing and hopes the trial will start before the end of the year.

Pistorius is accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, a law school graduate and television personality in South Africa.  He admits firing the fatal shots but says it was a case of mistaken identity, and that he believed it was a burglar hiding in his bathroom where Steenkamp was killed.

The magistrate in Tuesday’s hearing condemned the news media for “scandalizing” a serious case.  Last week, Britain’s Sky News broadcast leaked video of the blood-spattered bathroom where Ms. Steenkamp was shot.

Pistorius is nicknamed the "Blade Runner" for his use of Carbon Fiber blades in place of his feet, which were amputated when he was an infant.