The prosecution and defense teams in Paralympian gold medalist Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial resumed sparring over the timing and source of screams and the sounds of gunshots in the moments he killed Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux, questioned the memory of Johan Stipp, a radiologist who lived near the athlete’s home in Pretoria, over the events that took him to the athlete’s home early on Valentine’s Day last year. Stipp found Pistorius in tears kneeling and praying next to Steenkamp’s body.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is calling Pistorius’s neighbors to testify about hearing arguments, a woman’s screams and gunshots as the first week of a scheduled three-week trial in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, comes to an end. Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to planning to kill Steenkamp. Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, he admitted to shooting his model girlfriend three times while she was in his bathroom, believing she was an intruder.
“I heard the boom boom boom,” Stipp said in cross-examination today. “I didn’t hear any screaming after that.”
Cricket Bat
According to Roux, the screams neighbors heard were those of Pistorius after he realized he had shot Steenkamp through the toilet cubicle door, and that the gunshots they recalled were the noise of the accused breaking down the locked door with a cricket bat. The prosecution says Pistorius fatally shot Steenkamp at 3:17 a.m. after an argument, during which she screamed for help.
Roux said he will call an expert to testify, following tests, that Pistorius’s voice resembles that of a woman when he’s anxious.
Pistorius has been free on 1 million rand ($94,000) bail since February 2013. Wearing a charcoal suit, he sat on the accused bench in front of family members in the wood-paneled court. Presiding Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa will rule on the case because South Africa doesn’t have a jury system.
Harm Himself
Stipp testified yesterday he found Pistorius crying over the body on the ground floor of the house, trying to revive her. The reaction may have been for “atonement,” he said. Stipp said he was worried Pistorius would harm himself after he saw the accused returning upstairs before anyone had seen the gun.
More than 100 witnesses may be called by Nel. About 20 people who live or work near Pistorius’s home in the exclusive housing estate in the capital city may give testimony in a trial broadcast live on radio and TV. Apart from the murder charge, Pistorius faces two counts of illegally firing a gun in public and one of illegally possessing ammunition.
The charges have derailed the running career of the winner of six Paralympic gold medals and cost Pistorius sponsorship deals with Nike Inc. (NKE) and Luxottica Group SpA’s (LUX) Oakley. He was the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics Games in London in 2012.
Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-06/pistorius-trial-teams-spar-over-screams-gunshots-in-murder-case.html
The prosecution and defense teams in Paralympian gold medalist Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial resumed sparring over the timing and source of screams and the sounds of gunshots in the moments he killed Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux, questioned the memory of Johan Stipp, a radiologist who lived near the athlete’s home in Pretoria, over the events that took him to the athlete’s home early on Valentine’s Day last year. Stipp found Pistorius in tears kneeling and praying next to Steenkamp’s body.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel is calling Pistorius’s neighbors to testify about hearing arguments, a woman’s screams and gunshots as the first week of a scheduled three-week trial in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, comes to an end. Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to planning to kill Steenkamp. Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, he admitted to shooting his model girlfriend three times while she was in his bathroom, believing she was an intruder.
“I heard the boom boom boom,” Stipp said in cross-examination today. “I didn’t hear any screaming after that.”
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