PRETORIA, South Africa - The much anticipated testimony of Oscar Pistorius about the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was postponed today until next month.

The murder trial of the legless paralympian was put off until April 7 because Judge Thokozile Masipa announced that one of her two assessors was ill. The assessors' role is to assist the judge as the South African legal system does not have jury trials.

Pistorius' legal team was due to begin his defense today and Pistorius was expected to be the lead off witness. The delay gives Pistorius' legal team another week to prepare their case.

The man known as Blade Runner claims that he shot Steenkamp, 29, through a locked bathroom door before dawn on Valentine's Day 2013 because he mistook her for an intruder.

If convicted of murde, Pistorius, 27, could be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.

By Liezl Thom