Oscar Pistorius: I Didn’t Hear Reeva Scream
Oscar Pistorius has told his murder trial that
girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp did not scream or shout as he grabbed a gun
and fired shots that killed her. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it was
“improbable” that she would stand in the bathroom saying nothing while
Mr Pistorius was just 3m (10ft) away shouting at her to call the police.
Mr Pistorius said he could not explain why she had not shouted out.
The athlete, 27, denies murder saying the killing was a terrible
accident. He admits killing Ms Steenkamp but says he fired his gun
after mistaking her for an intruder. He believed she had been in bed
when he grabbed his gun, made his way to the bathroom and fired shots
through the door. The prosecution says he deliberately killed her after
an argument. On the third day of his cross-examination, Mr Nel pressed
the South African Olympic sprinter to explain the final moments leading
up to the shooting.He asked why he had not checked whether Ms Steenkamp had heard his calls for her to phone the police, or why he had not taken her to safety instead of going to confront the supposed intruder. Mr Pistorius said it
was his personality to confront what he believed was an intruder. The trial has been adjourned until Monday morning. ‘She was scared of you’ Later, Mr Nel questioned Mr Pistorius’s account that he had not heard Ms Steenkamp shout or scream during the whole incident.
“When you shouted at Reeva to phone the police, she was 3m away from you in the toilet, but she didn’t say anything,” he said. “Why would she not say anything?” Mr Pistorius said he did not know. The prosecutor accused the athlete of lying, and said he had shot Ms Steenkamp while she was talking to him from the bathroom.
“She wasn’t scared of an intruder,” he said.
“She was scared of you.” He went on: “Are you sure that Reeva did not
scream after the first shot?” Mr Pistorius took a long time to answer,
and broke down into sobs. “At no point did Reeva shout out or scream,”
he said. Mr Nel then disputed his claim, saying he would not have been
able to hear if he had just fired his gun.
Prosecution witnesses have testified to hearing a woman scream, but
the defence disputes their testimony. ‘Fixated’ on intruder At one point
the judge admonished Mr Nel, telling him not to call a witness a “liar”
while he was giving evidence. The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani, at court in the
capital, Pretoria, explains that lawyers can say witnesses are lying but
not call them liars. Mr Pistorius told the court he had heard a window
opening and closing, and had immediately got out of bed and grabbed his
gun. “I told Reeva to get down and phone the police,” he said.
Mr Nel asked if he had not looked at Ms
Steenkamp, or asked if she had heard the noise. “My whole being was
fixated on this person that I thought was in the bathroom,” Mr Pistorius
said. Before the cross-examination resumed on Friday, Mr Nel confirmed
that Mr Pistorius had asked to meet Ms Steenkamp’s family to apologise
for killing her. The double amputee faces life imprisonment if convicted
of murdering the 29-year-old model. If he is acquitted of murder, the
court must consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for
which he could receive up to 15 years in prison. Mr Pistorius also faces
charges of illegally firing a gun in public and of illegally possessing
ammunition, both of which he denies. There are no juries at trials in
South Africa, and his fate will ultimately be decided by the judge,
assisted by two assessors.
Source: BBC
