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Prosecutor Tries to Rattle Pistorius in Murder Trial Prosecutor Tries to Rattle Pistorius in Murder Trial
(35 minutes later)
PRETORIA, South Africa — After two tumultuous days in which he gave his account of the night he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, the Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius on Wednesday was confronted by the man whose mission is to dismantle his story, piece by piece: the state prosecutor, Gerrie Nel. PRETORIA, South Africa — After two tumultuous days in which he gave his account of the night he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, the Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was confronted on Wednesday by the man whose mission is to dismantle his story, piece by piece: the state prosecutor, Gerrie Nel.
Combative, dogged and pugnacious, Mr. Nel is known here as “the pit bull,” and he wasted no time in trying to rattle Mr. Pistorius, who had already appeared considerably shaken by the proceedings in his murder trial. Combative, dogged and pugnacious, Mr. Nel is known here as the “pit bull,” and he wasted no time in trying to rattle Mr. Pistorius, who had already appeared considerably shaken by the proceedings in his murder trial.
“You killed Reeva Steenkamp, didn’t you?” Mr. Nel snapped at Mr. Pistorius. “Say it. Say: ‘yes, I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.' ” “You killed Reeva Steenkamp, didn’t you?” Mr. Nel told Mr. Pistorius. “Say it. Say, ‘Yes, I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.' ”
In a shocking move that brought gasps from the courtroom, Mr. Nel suddenly displayed a photograph of Ms. Steenkamp’s head after the shooting, with blood and brains spilling from it, and all but ordered Mr. Pistorius to look at it. “Take responsibility for what you’ve done!” he snapped. Mr. Pistorius refused, saying he was “tormented” by the memories of what Ms. Steenkamp’s head felt like after she died, when he cradled her in his arms and sobbed over her lifeless body. In a shocking move that brought gasps from the courtroom, Mr. Nel suddenly displayed a photograph of Ms. Steenkamp’s head after the shooting, with blood and brains spilling from it, and all but ordered Mr. Pistorius to look at it. “Take responsibility for what you’ve done!” he snapped. Mr. Pistorius refused, saying he was “tormented” by the memories of what Ms. Steenkamp’s head felt like after she died, when he cradled her in his arms and sobbed over her body.
Mr. Pistorius wept, as he has on numerous occasions since his trial began, and the court took a break while he composed himself. Mr. Pistorius wept, as he has on numerous occasions since his trial began, and the proceedings were delayed while he composed himself.
“I’m fighting for my life,” he said at one point. Mr. Nel repeatedly asked Mr. Pistorius about the location of two ventilation fans in his bedroom on the night of the killing, seeking to undermine both the athlete’s credibility and the defense’s contention that the crime scene was contaminated by clumsy police work and other factors.
Mr. Nel repeatedly asked Mr. Pistorius about the location of two ventilation fans in his bedroom on the night of the killing, seeking to undermine the defense’s contention that the crime scene was contaminated by clumsy police work and other factors. The detail is important, Mr. Nel told the athlete, because “it will show that you are lying.”
The detail was important, Mr. Nel told the athlete, because “it will show that you are lying.”
Mr. Pistorius said his memory was not good “but I’m not trying to lie.”Mr. Pistorius said his memory was not good “but I’m not trying to lie.”
“I can’t change the truth,” he said.“I can’t change the truth,” he said.
Mr. Pistorius, 27, maintains that the killing was a tragic mistake and that he fired four rounds through a locked bathroom door in the early morning of Feb. 14, 2013, because he was convinced an intruder had broken into his house. But the prosecution says he deliberately killed Ms. Steenkamp, 29, in a fit of rage as the two argued. Mr. Pistorius, 27, maintains that the killing was a deadly mistake and that he fired four rounds through the locked door to the bathroom in the early morning of Feb. 14, 2013, because he was convinced that an intruder had broken into his house here in Pretoria, and was not aware that Ms. Steenkamp was in the bathroom. But the prosecution says he deliberately killed Ms. Steenkamp, 29, in a fit of rage as the two argued, eventually using a cricket bat to break down the door.
Earlier, Mr. Pistorius had told the court: “I did not intend to kill Reeva — or anybody else.” “I did not intend to kill Reeva — or anybody else,” he said.
Describing the scene when he broke down the bathroom door with a cricket bat after having tried to kick it open, Mr. Pistorius said: “I could see she was breathing, struggling to breathe.” Mr. Nel questioned him closely about whether he had fired his gun accidentally. “At that time I didn’t know what to think,” Mr. Pistorius replied. “I fired into the toilet door. I believe someone was coming out to attack me, to protect myself.”
Pausing between sentences, and coaxed gently by his lawyer, Mr. Pistorius, 27, struggled to hold back sobs as he described carrying Ms. Steenkamp’s bleeding body down the stairs of his house. He tried to help Ms. Steenkamp breathe by putting his fingers in her mouth, he said, and tried fruitlessly to stanch the bleeding from her hip. When Mr. Pistorius told Mr. Nel that his life was “on the line,” the prosecutor replied: “Reeva doesn’t have a life anymore. She’s not alive because of what you’ve done.”
Earlier, the defense gently coaxed Mr. Pistorius through a reconstruction of what happened next.
Pausing between sentences, Mr. Pistorius struggled to hold back sobs as he described carrying Ms. Steenkamp’s bleeding body down the stairs. He tried to help Ms. Steenkamp breathe by putting his fingers in her mouth, he said, and tried fruitlessly to stanch the bleeding from her hip.
“I just sat there with her and waited for the ambulance to arrive,” he said.“I just sat there with her and waited for the ambulance to arrive,” he said.
But when an ambulance got there, a paramedic informed him “that Reeva has passed,” he said. “Reeva had already died whilst I was holding her.” Police officers at the scene took photographs of him for several hours, he said, and finally told him he was under arrest and took him into custody. But when an ambulance got there, a paramedic informed him that Reeva was dead, he said. “Reeva had already died whilst I was holding her,” he testified. Police officers at the scene took photographs of him for several hours, he said, and finally told him that he was under arrest and took him into custody.
“I asked a policeman if I might wash my hands because the smell of the blood was making me throw up,” he said.“I asked a policeman if I might wash my hands because the smell of the blood was making me throw up,” he said.
As his testimony unfolded, June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, sat impassively in the courtroom, staring in front of her. As his testimony unfolded, June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, sat impassively in the courtroom, staring ahead. A judge and two judicial assessors are hearing the testimony; there are no jury trials in South Africa.
Then the cross-examination began. The court adjourned briefly after Mr. Nel asked Mr. Pistorius if he had heard the term “zombie-stopper,” apparently referring to a type of gun or ammunition, and the defense and the prosecution tussled over whether Mr. Nel could show a video in which Mr. Pistorius used the expression while at a shooting range. Then the cross-examination began. The court adjourned briefly after Mr. Nel asked Mr. Pistorius if he had heard the term “zombie stopper,” apparently referring to a type of gun or ammunition, and the defense and the prosecution tussled over whether Mr. Nel could show a video in which Mr. Pistorius used the expression while at a shooting range.
After their argument, the video was broadcast to the court. It showed Mr. Pistorius firing several weapons, including a handgun and a shotgun, and using a watermelon as a target. When the melon was hit and exploded, a voice off camera said the gun had functioned as a “zombie-stopper” and that the watermelon was “softer than brains.” After their argument, the video was broadcast in court. It showed Mr. Pistorius firing several weapons, including a handgun and a shotgun, and using a watermelon as a target. When the melon was hit and exploded, a voice off camera said the gun had functioned as a “zombie stopper” and that the watermelon was “softer than brains.”
“I was shooting at a watermelon with a handgun,” Mr. Pistorius testified. “That was my voice saying those words,” he said, adding that he was “very upset” to hear himself. In any case, he said, he had been referring to zombie brains, not human ones. “I was shooting at a watermelon with a handgun,” Mr. Pistorius testified. “That was my voice saying those words.” He added that he was “very upset” to hear himself. In any case, he said, he had been referring to zombie brains, not human ones.
Mr. Nel asked Mr. Pistorius whether he had been shooting at the watermelon to see the effect of shooting the same high-powered ammunition at a human brain, but Mr. Pistorius repeatedly answered that was not what he meant. Mr. Nel also put it to Mr. Pistorius that what happened to Ms. Steenkamp’s head was the same thing that “happened to the watermelon.” Mr. Nel asked Mr. Pistorius whether he had been shooting at the watermelon to see the effect of shooting the same high-powered ammunition at a human brain, but Mr. Pistorius repeatedly answered that that was not what he meant. Mr. Nel also suggested that what happened to Ms. Steenkamp’s head was the same thing that happened to the watermelon.
Mr. Pistorius put his head in his hands and cried.Mr. Pistorius put his head in his hands and cried.
Continuing his cross-examination, Mr. Nel said that parts of Mr. Pistorius’s latest testimony were at odds with the version of events he gave during a bail application shortly after Ms. Steenkamp’s death, when he was in prison and desperately trying to get out. Continuing his cross-examination, Mr. Nel said parts of Mr. Pistorius’s latest testimony were at odds with the version of events he gave during a bail application shortly after Ms. Steenkamp’s death, when he was in prison and desperately trying to get out.
“My story has never changed,” Mr. Pistorius insisted.“My story has never changed,” Mr. Pistorius insisted.