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Psychiatrist Testifying for Defense Says Pistorius Has ‘Anxiety Disorder’ | Psychiatrist Testifying for Defense Says Pistorius Has ‘Anxiety Disorder’ |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense told the Oscar Pistorius murder trial on Monday that the double-amputee track star suffered from an “anxiety disorder” after growing up with a mostly absent father and a mother so afraid of intruders that she slept with a firearm under her pillow. | |
The testimony by the psychiatrist, Merryll Vorster, offered an uneasy echo of Mr. Pistorius’s own account of events in his bedroom in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, when he has admitted taking a handgun and firing four shots through a locked bathroom door, killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate. | The testimony by the psychiatrist, Merryll Vorster, offered an uneasy echo of Mr. Pistorius’s own account of events in his bedroom in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, when he has admitted taking a handgun and firing four shots through a locked bathroom door, killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate. |
Under cross-examination by the prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Ms. Vorster said Mr. Pistorius’s perceived disorder did not constitute a mental illness that would require the judge to order a psychiatric examination. But, in an unexpected and contentious twist that could introduce new delays and imponderables into the hearings, Mr. Nel said the runner should be sent for psychological observation and evaluation to assess whether his mental state was a factor in the killing. | |
As the trial began its eighth week of passionate outbursts and sporadic delays, Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa adjourned the hearings until Tuesday and did not immediately rule on the prosecutor’s request. | |
The prosecution says Mr. Pistorius, 27, murdered Ms. Steenkamp, but the runner says he shot her by accident, believing that at least one intruder had entered his comfortable villa in a gated complex in Pretoria, the South African capital, where he is now on trial in a case that is being broadcast around the world. If he is convicted of premeditated murder, he will face a minimum 25-year jail term. | |
The portrait Ms. Vorster offered of Mr. Pistorius’s troubled upbringing and deepening anxieties recalled some of his behavior during the trial since it opened in early March. On occasions he has wept, wailed, retched and sobbed when confronted with graphic evidence relating to Ms. Steenkamp’s death. | |
Ms. Vorster said that she had interviewed the athlete and some of his family members and friends in early May 2014 to form her conclusions. | |
Her testimony seemed designed on the part of the defense to bolster its argument that Mr. Pistorius felt vulnerable because of his disability and had an usually high level of anxiety about intruders. It also seemed intended to rebut earlier prosecution testimony that he was self-centered, trigger-happy, quick-tempered and jealous. | |
Ms. Vorster also seemed to indicate that Mr. Pistorius’s anxiety might have conditioned his response to threats, predisposing him to “fight” rather than “flight,” she said, possibly because his disability limited his ability to flee from perceived danger. The runner has said he was on his stumps, without prosthetics, when he opened fire. | |
Mr. Nel said that the psychiatrist’s testimony left him no other option but to request an evaluation of Mr. Pistorius’s mental health, a process that, in South Africa, can take 30 days in a state facility. But Barry Roux, Mr. Pistorius’s lead defense lawyer, said that nothing in Ms. Vorster’s report suggested that Mr. Pistorius “is incapable of appreciating wrongfulness.” | |
The psychiatrist traced her analysis of Mr. Pistorius’s personality to his birth without fibula bones in his lower legs. At the age of 11 months, both legs were amputated below the knee. The procedure constituted a “traumatic assault” that he would not have comprehended at the time, Ms. Vorster said. | The psychiatrist traced her analysis of Mr. Pistorius’s personality to his birth without fibula bones in his lower legs. At the age of 11 months, both legs were amputated below the knee. The procedure constituted a “traumatic assault” that he would not have comprehended at the time, Ms. Vorster said. |
The runner grew up with a mother who was “very anxious,” abused alcohol intermittently and “slept with a firearm under the pillow.” His father was “irresponsible and mostly absent.” | The runner grew up with a mother who was “very anxious,” abused alcohol intermittently and “slept with a firearm under the pillow.” His father was “irresponsible and mostly absent.” |
Mr. Pistorius and his siblings were not “soothed” by their mother, the psychiatrist said, but were “raised to see their external environment as threatening.” | Mr. Pistorius and his siblings were not “soothed” by their mother, the psychiatrist said, but were “raised to see their external environment as threatening.” |
Mr. Pistorius was never allowed to see himself as disabled and became increasingly sensitive about exposing his stumps, even to family members, Ms. Vorster said. | Mr. Pistorius was never allowed to see himself as disabled and became increasingly sensitive about exposing his stumps, even to family members, Ms. Vorster said. |
Mr. Pistorius’s mother died when he was a teenager and, at age 21, as he achieved sporting renown, he broke his ties with his father. Concerned about rising crime levels in South Africa, he bought a gun for his protection, Ms. Vorster said. | |
As Ms. Vorster recounted details of his upbringing, Mr. Pistorius seemed to become emotional, cradling his head in his hands. | As Ms. Vorster recounted details of his upbringing, Mr. Pistorius seemed to become emotional, cradling his head in his hands. |