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| Prosecution Rests Case in Pistorius Murder Trial | Prosecution Rests Case in Pistorius Murder Trial |
| (5 months later) | |
| JOHANNESBURG — The prosecution rested its case in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial on Tuesday, after three weeks of testimony in which it sought to portray Mr. Pistorius as a spoiled, angry and jealous man whose charming public facade hid a deep and ultimately murderous rage. | |
| Mr. Pistorius, whose charismatic success as a sprinter on prosthetic legs made him an international sports star, is accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his house in the middle of the night on Valentine’s Day 2013. | Mr. Pistorius, whose charismatic success as a sprinter on prosthetic legs made him an international sports star, is accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his house in the middle of the night on Valentine’s Day 2013. |
| Pleading not guilty, Mr. Pistorius says the shooting was a horrible accident in which he mistook Ms. Steenkamp, 29, a law graduate and reality television star, for an intruder. But the prosecution has chipped away at that version of events and at the carefully constructed image of Mr. Pistorius. | Pleading not guilty, Mr. Pistorius says the shooting was a horrible accident in which he mistook Ms. Steenkamp, 29, a law graduate and reality television star, for an intruder. But the prosecution has chipped away at that version of events and at the carefully constructed image of Mr. Pistorius. |
| Most recently, it introduced into evidence text messages between Mr. Pistorius and Ms. Steenkamp designed to bolster its case that the couple had a volatile relationship in which Mr. Pistorius was irrationally jealous and easily driven to anger. | Most recently, it introduced into evidence text messages between Mr. Pistorius and Ms. Steenkamp designed to bolster its case that the couple had a volatile relationship in which Mr. Pistorius was irrationally jealous and easily driven to anger. |
| At one point, for instance, Ms. Steenkamp told Mr. Pistorius in a text message that his behavior at an engagement party for a friend of hers — in which he accused her of flirting with another man and demanded that they leave early — had been perplexing and upsetting. She also accused him of micromanaging her behavior, criticizing her and holding her to a double standard in which he could talk about past romances but she could not. | At one point, for instance, Ms. Steenkamp told Mr. Pistorius in a text message that his behavior at an engagement party for a friend of hers — in which he accused her of flirting with another man and demanded that they leave early — had been perplexing and upsetting. She also accused him of micromanaging her behavior, criticizing her and holding her to a double standard in which he could talk about past romances but she could not. |
| And, she said, he became enraged at the slightest provocation. | And, she said, he became enraged at the slightest provocation. |
| “I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you react to me,” she said in one message, sent less than three weeks before he killed her. “I do everything to make you happy, and you do everything to throw tantrums.” | “I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you react to me,” she said in one message, sent less than three weeks before he killed her. “I do everything to make you happy, and you do everything to throw tantrums.” |
| Mr. Pistorius apologized but added, “I was upset that you just left me after we got food to go talk to a guy and I was standing right behind you watching you touch his arm and ignore me.” | Mr. Pistorius apologized but added, “I was upset that you just left me after we got food to go talk to a guy and I was standing right behind you watching you touch his arm and ignore me.” |
| But in cross-examining the witness, a police cellphone analyst, the defense established that of more than 1,000 text messages between the couple, only four had been negative, and that many had been extremely warm and affectionate. | But in cross-examining the witness, a police cellphone analyst, the defense established that of more than 1,000 text messages between the couple, only four had been negative, and that many had been extremely warm and affectionate. |
| The couple had been dating for only a few months when Mr. Pistorius shot Ms. Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door of his house in a luxury gated development. Witnesses for the prosecution described in graphic detail how Ms. Steenkamp was struck by four bullets in the bathroom, her arms crossed over her head in a futile effort to protect herself. | The couple had been dating for only a few months when Mr. Pistorius shot Ms. Steenkamp through the locked bathroom door of his house in a luxury gated development. Witnesses for the prosecution described in graphic detail how Ms. Steenkamp was struck by four bullets in the bathroom, her arms crossed over her head in a futile effort to protect herself. |
| During much of the proceedings, Mr. Pistorius has been unable to maintain his composure, burying his head in his hands, sticking his fingers in his ears to drown out distressing testimony and often erupting into racking sobs. While listening to testimony that described Ms. Steenkamp’s injuries, he vomited repeatedly into a bucket the court provided for him. | During much of the proceedings, Mr. Pistorius has been unable to maintain his composure, burying his head in his hands, sticking his fingers in his ears to drown out distressing testimony and often erupting into racking sobs. While listening to testimony that described Ms. Steenkamp’s injuries, he vomited repeatedly into a bucket the court provided for him. |
| The court has heard from a former girlfriend who said that she, too, had been a target of Mr. Pistorius’s jealous rages and that they broke up after he cheated on her with Ms. Steenkamp. It has heard from other witnesses detailing instances in which Mr. Pistorius was said to have fired guns — once by mistake as a gun was passed to him under a table in a crowded restaurant, another time out of the roof of his car in a fit of anger after being stopped by a police officer. | The court has heard from a former girlfriend who said that she, too, had been a target of Mr. Pistorius’s jealous rages and that they broke up after he cheated on her with Ms. Steenkamp. It has heard from other witnesses detailing instances in which Mr. Pistorius was said to have fired guns — once by mistake as a gun was passed to him under a table in a crowded restaurant, another time out of the roof of his car in a fit of anger after being stopped by a police officer. |
| And it has heard from neighbors of Mr. Pistorius who say they heard a woman screaming around the time they heard gunshots coming from his house the night Ms. Steenkamp was killed. | And it has heard from neighbors of Mr. Pistorius who say they heard a woman screaming around the time they heard gunshots coming from his house the night Ms. Steenkamp was killed. |
| The case has wrecked the career of Mr. Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee and who earned his admiring Blade Runner nickname because of the flexible, sickle-shaped carbon-fiber prosthetic legs on which he runs. It has also riveted South Africa, attracting huge media attention and even inspiring a 24-hour cable channel devoted exclusively to the case. As is customary in South African law, there is no jury. The verdict will be determined by a judge aided by two officials known as assessors. | The case has wrecked the career of Mr. Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee and who earned his admiring Blade Runner nickname because of the flexible, sickle-shaped carbon-fiber prosthetic legs on which he runs. It has also riveted South Africa, attracting huge media attention and even inspiring a 24-hour cable channel devoted exclusively to the case. As is customary in South African law, there is no jury. The verdict will be determined by a judge aided by two officials known as assessors. |
| The defense has asked for several days to prepare itself, and will begin its own case on Friday — possibly with Mr. Pistorius taking the stand. | The defense has asked for several days to prepare itself, and will begin its own case on Friday — possibly with Mr. Pistorius taking the stand. |
| If convicted, he faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. | If convicted, he faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. |