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Oscar Pistorius admits he had no reason to fire shots that killed girlfriend Oscar Pistorius admits he had no reason to fire shots that killed girlfriend
(about 17 hours later)
Oscar Pistorius has admitted he had "no reason" to fire the shots that killed his girlfriend as a prosecutor grilled him about another incident in which a gun went off in his possession. Oscar Pistorius admitted on Thursday that he had "no reason" to fire the shots that killed his girlfriend as a prosecutor called him a liar who consistently fails to accept responsibility for his actions.
The Paralympic sprinter insisted he killed Reeva Steenkamp by accident at his home on Valentine's Day last year, but could not explain why he pulled the trigger. The Paralympic sprinter was quizzed about three other gun-related charges, including an incident where he was at a loss to explain how a pistol went off in his hands at a busy restaurant. The court also heard him portrayed as a narcissistic, bullying boyfriend.
Pistorius, 27, spent a full day under gruelling cross-examination by prosecutor Gerrie Nel at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa. Pistorius claimed he thought he had heard an intruder, but repeatedly refused to say he intended to shoot anyone. Pistorius is standing trial for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, on Valentine's day last year. Under gruelling cross-examination by prosecutor Gerrie Nel, the 27-year-old claimed he thought he was in danger from an intruder but repeatedly denied that he intended to shoot anyone.
Nel challenged him: "We know for a fact there were no intruders in your house that night, we know for a fact there was no ladder against the wall. We know for a fact that you had no reason to shoot, objectively speaking." "I didn't have time to think about if I wanted to or didn't want to," he told the the high court in Pretoria.
Pistorius told the judge: "That's correct, my lady." Nel challenged: "We know for a fact there were no intruders in your house that night, we know for a fact there was no ladder against the wall. We know for a fact that you had no reason to shoot, objectively speaking." Pistorius told the judge: "That's correct, my lady."
"So why shoot?" Nel asked. Pistorius explained: "I heard a noise coming from the toilet that I interpreted as someone coming out to attack me." So why shoot, Nel demanded. Pistorius explained: "I heard a noise coming from the toilet that I interpreted as someone coming out to attack me."
Nel pressed him: "Accidentally your fingers pulled the trigger?"Nel pressed him: "Accidentally your fingers pulled the trigger?"
When Pistorius agreed, Nel said: "At the intruder?" When Pistorius agreed, Nel said: "At the intruder?"Pistorius countered: "At the door."
But Pistorius countered: "At the door." As Nel became increasingly exasperated, Pistorius broke down, his voice shaking as he reiterated: "It was an accident."
As Nel became exasperated, Pistorius broke down, his voice shaking as he insisted: "It was an accident." Nel, known as the "the pitbull" for his combative approach, had stunned the court on Wednesday by telling to Pistorius to look at a gruesome photograph of his dead girlfriend and take responsibility what he had done.
Earlier, Nel addressed another charge relating to an incident at a restaurant in Johannesburg in which a shot went off after a friend of the runner passed him a loaded gun under the table. On Thursday he continued to chip away at both Pistorius's explanation and his character, circling back and forth from the killing to three other charges that implied a pattern of reckless behaviour with guns.
Pistorius insisted he did not have his finger on the trigger when the gun fired. The prosecutor noted that a police expert had testified that the gun could not be fired without pulling the trigger, and sarcastically described the discharge as a "miracle". "You are a gun enthusiast," Nel said. "You come from a family with lots of guns. Fifty or more, I read somewhere?" Pistorius could not confirm the number.
Nel asked: "The gun went off by itself?" Nel cited an incident at a restaurant in Johannesburg in which a shot went off after a friend of the double-amputee runner passed him a loaded pistol under the table, just weeks before Steenkamp's death.
Pistorius insisted that he did not have his finger on the trigger when the gun fired. The prosecutor noted that a police expert had testified that the gun could not be fired without pulling the trigger, and sarcastically described the discharge as a "miracle".
"The gun went off by itself?" he asked.
Pistorius was adamant: "I know that my finger was not on the trigger."Pistorius was adamant: "I know that my finger was not on the trigger."
Nel, incredulous, went on: "We have you in possession of the gun, a shot went off, but you didn't discharge the gun." An incredulous Nel went on: "We have you in possession of the gun, a shot went off, but you didn't discharge the gun?... I'm putting it to you, you fired that gun. There is no other way. You are lying."
Pistorius said: "I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't have time to think." Pistorius replied: "I respect Mr Nel's comment, but I didn't pull the trigger on that firearm. I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't have time to think."
Nel mimicked him sarcastically: "I'm a gun enthusiast, I didn't have time to think." Nel mimicked him with sarcasm: "I'm a gun enthusiast, I didn't have time to think."
Nel also grilled Pistorius on another of the charges against him, that the athlete had rounds of .38-calibre ammunition in a safe at his home without a licence. Pistorius pleaded not guilty to the charge and said it was his father's ammunition, put there for safekeeping. Later the prosecutor brought up an allegation made by two witnesses that Pistorius fired a gun through the open sunroof of a car in which he was travelling. The "blade runner" claimed that both witnesses had "fabricated" the story.
Nel said Pistorius's father, Henke, had refused to make a statement to police about the ammunition. Henke was present at Pistorius's bail hearing, but has not attended the trial. Nel also grilled Pistorius on a charge that he had rounds of .38-caliber ammunition in a safe at his home without a licence. Pistorius has pleaded not guilty and said it was his father's ammunition, put there for "safe keeping".
Nel, staring at Pistorius, told him: "You are lying. You just don't want to accept responsibility for anything." The prosecutor said Pistorius's father, Henke, had "refused" to make a statement to police regarding whether the ammunition belonged to him. Pistorius commented that he has a distant relationship with his father, who was present at his bail hearing last year but has not been seen at his trial.
He also forced Pistorius to admit that he sometimes illegally left a magazine of bullets in his bedside table, including on 13 February 2013, the day before the tragedy. Staring at the accused, Nel told him: "You are lying. You just don't want to accept responsibility for anything."
Nel pointed to police photos of Pistorius's bedroom and suggested they were inconsistent with the athlete's account of waking up, speaking to Steenkamp and getting up to bring in two fans. "When you got up you had an argument," Nel said. "That's why she ran away screaming." He also forced Pistorius to admit that he sometimes illegally left a magazine of bullets in his bedside table, including on 13 February 2013.
The prosecutor referred to WhatsApp messages between Pistorius and Steenkamp which he said portrayed the athlete as self-centred and egotistical. He said the phrase "I love you" appeared only twice and, on both occasions, it was written by Steenkamp to her mother. "Never to you and you never to her," Nel said. As the cross-examination returned to that evening and the following morning, Pistorius was tested on his claim that after he shot Steenkamp, he ran out onto the balcony and screamed for help. In a police picture shown to the court, a duvet and a large stand-up electrical fan clearly block his route to the balcony door.
Pistorius claimed the police moved these items when they arrived at the scene. Nel responded: "Let's sum up: A policeman moved the two fans, put the duvet on the floor, opened the curtains wider than they should be before the photographs were taken.
"Your version is so improbable, that nobody would ever think it's reasonably, possibly true, it's so impossible... Your version is a lie."
He added: "When you got up you had an argument. That's why she ran away screaming."
Earlier the prosecutor referred to WhatsApp messages between Pistorius and Steenkamp that he said showed the athlete to be egotistial and self-centred, with concerns "all about Oscar".
When Nel asked about a message in which Steenkamp said she was sometimes "scared" of her boyfriend, Pistorius explained: "She's scared of the feelings that she has for me and the way that I brushed her off."
Nel said the phrase "I love you" appeared only twice and, on both occasions, they were written by Steenkamp to her mother. "Never to you and you never to her," Nel said.
Pistorius responded: "I never got the opportunity to tell Reeva that I loved her."Pistorius responded: "I never got the opportunity to tell Reeva that I loved her."
Nel also accused Pistorius of ignoring the concerns of Steenkamp's family by apologising to them at the beginning of his testimony this week instead of doing so in private. In another message Steenkamp objected to Pistorius playing a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar on a car stereo. The prosecutor asked if the name of the song was "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," adding that Steenkamp would have been right to take offence, but "we can't ask her."
Nel said: "Why would you create a spectacle in court, in the public domain, in the public eye? Why did you put them through this?" He added, in a recurring theme of this cross-examination: "Your life is just about you … "You will blame anybody but yourself." Nel summarised: "Because it's all about Mr Pistorius, that is what your relationship was."
Pistorius said his lawyers had been in touch with representatives of Steenkamp's family and he had believed the family of his girlfriend was not ready to meet him. He said: "I completely understand where they're coming from. It's not that I haven't thought about them." He also accused Pistorius of ignoring the concerns of Steenkamp's family by apologising to them at the beginning of his testimony this week instead of doing so in private. "Why would you create a spectacle in court, in the public domain, in the public eye," Nel said. "Why did you put them through this?"
Pistorius said his lawyers had been in touch with representatives of Steenkamp's family, and he had believed the family of his girlfriend was not ready to meet him. "I completely understand where they're coming from," he said. "It's not that I haven't thought about them."
But Nel, in a recurring theme, said: "Your life is just about you ... You will blame anybody but yourself ... You see again Mr Pistorius, it's the strangest day today, you don't take responsibility for anything."