Pistorius trial hears of screams
Print Edition
South African Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend as his trial opened with a neighbor’s account of “bloodcurdling” screams on the night of the killing.
Pistorius, whose trial is being broadcast live around the world, faces a life sentence if convicted of the fatal Valentine’s Day shooting of model and reality television star Reeva Steenkamp a year ago.
After a state prosecutor charged that Pistorius “unlawfully and intentionally did kill” Steenkamp, he entered a plea of “not guilty, my lady.”
Pistorius, 27, a double amputee sporting hero known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre running blades, also pleaded not guilty to three unrelated gun charges.
One judge, Thokozile Masipa, is presiding in the case.
In a statement read out by his lawyer Kenny Oldwage, Pistorius described his girlfriend’s death as a “tragic accident” saying he had mistaken his 29-year-old lover for an intruder.
He admitted killing Steenkamp, but denied murderous intent. “This allegation is denied in the strongest terms,” he said. “We were in a loving relationship.”
The first prosecution witness to take the stand, Michelle Burger, said she and her husband were awoken at around 3am by “bloodcurdling screams” coming from the Pistorius home in an upmarket Johannesburg gated community.
“She screamed terribly and she yelled for help,” the university economist said. “It was something you can’t explain to someone else, how anxious those screams were.”
“Just after her screams, I heard shots, four shots,” she said, describing one clear shot then three clustered together.
“Bang... bang, bang, bang.”
“I heard petrified screaming before the gunshots, and just after the gunshots,” she said when pressed by Pistorius’s lawyer.
Advocate Barry Roux challenged Burger over potential inconsistencies, asking in particular why she heard four gunshots but her husband, who is yet to testify, reported hearing five or six.
The trial continues today.
Yesterday marked the first time the victim’s mother June came face-to-face with Pistorius since the killing.
“I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva,” she told a British newspaper ahead of the trial.
Further down from her on the wood-panelled bench sat Pistorius’s brother Carl, sister Aimee and a handful of other relatives.
The state is seeking to prove that Pistorius, the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes at the London 2012 Olympics, killed Steenkamp in a rage after the couple quarrelled in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
A South African satellite network has set up a dedicated channel to cover the trial, parts of which are being broadcast live on television, while all of it is available in audio.
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