Pistorius ‘had sole purpose of killing’
Print Edition
THE prosecutor in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius ended his five-day cross-examination of the double amputee track athlete yesterday with a stark summary of how he shot his girlfriend, insisting he killed her deliberately after an argument.
“You fired four shots through the door whilst knowing that she was standing behind the door,” said prosecutor Gerrie Nel.
“She was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her.”
“That is not true,” said 27-year-old Pistorius, who faces life in prison if convicted of murder.
Pistorius has broken down in tears on many occasions during questioning, and at one point retched into a bucket after being shown grisly pictures of Reeva Steenkamp after the shooting on Valentine’s Day last year.
He says he killed the 29-year-old law graduate and model accidentally after mistaking her for an intruder hiding behind a toilet door.
Yesterday, he told the court he had pulled the trigger without thinking after hearing a noise behind the door, fear that his and Steenkamp’s lives were in danger.
“I was extremely fearful, overcome with a sense of terror and vulnerability,” said Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a baby.
Pistorius was one of South Africa’s most revered sportsmen, admired for his prowess on the track using carbon-fibre prosthetics that earned him the nickname “The Blade Runner.”
The trial looks likely to run into next month.
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