Pistorius Plans to Sell His House to Cover Legal Costs, Lawyer Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/world/africa/pistorius-plans-to-sell-his-house.html

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Facing the need to raise money for legal fees as he stands trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee track star, plans to sell the house where he admits shooting her, a lawyer said on his behalf on Thursday.

Mr. Pistorius, 27, has said he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a tragic error, mistaking her for an intruder locked inside a bathroom in his house in Pretoria, South Africa. But prosecutors have accused him of premeditated murder, a crime that carries a minimum 25-year prison term on conviction in South Africa, which does not have the death penalty.

The hearings have been broadcast live around the world.

Brian Webber, the lawyer, said it had “become necessary” to sell the luxurious villa, located in a gated complex in Pretoria, the South African capital, because the trial was expected to last longer the three weeks initially scheduled.

Mr. Pistorius never returned to the house after the shooting in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, and “cannot contemplate ever returning to live there again,” Mr. Webber said. Free on bail, Mr. Pistorius has been living with relatives since the shooting.

News reports said the trial might be costing Mr. Pistorius about $9,000 a day.

He had initially planned to keep the house sealed until the trial was over, but “he has been forced to revisit this decision,” Mr. Webber said in a statement which, the lawyer said, was issued to head off speculation in the media.

The trial opened on March 3. Since then, a replica of the cubicle where Ms. Steenkamp, 29, was killed has been erected in the courtroom, enabling forensic experts and other prosecution witnesses to show how they believe events unfolded.

Much testimony has revolved around the moment when Mr. Pistorius, who was born without fibula bones and whose legs were both amputated below the knee in infancy, opened fire and then smashed open the door with a cricket bat after realizing, by his account, that he had shot Ms. Steenkamp.

Prosecutors have said they expect to wrap up their case early next week after the trial resumes on Monday.

While Mr. Pistorius was a national hero for his track achievements at both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London in 2012, the prosecution has sought to depict him as a quick-tempered man with a fascination for firearms and a history of handling them.