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| Oscar Pistorius trial: 'Pit bull' prosecutor tells court athlete 'knew Reeva was behind the toilet' door before he shot her | Oscar Pistorius trial: 'Pit bull' prosecutor tells court athlete 'knew Reeva was behind the toilet' door before he shot her |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Oscar Pistorius knew girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was "behind the toilet" door when he shot her dead on Valentine's Day last year, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel told his murder trial. | Oscar Pistorius knew girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was "behind the toilet" door when he shot her dead on Valentine's Day last year, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel told his murder trial. |
| "She was standing behind the toilet door talking to you when you shot her," Nel claimed in court, saying the couple arguing was the only "reasonable explanation" for her standing behind the cubicle door and facing it, to which he immediately replied: "That's not true". | |
| The chief prosecutor, known as the "pit bull" accused the athlete of lying about his version of events leading up to her death in the early hours of 14 February, insisting she "wasn't scared of an intruder, she was scared of you", referring to Pistorius. | |
| Continuing his aggressive questioning, Mr Nel told the court it is "improbable" that Ms Steenkamp "never uttered a word" to him while he approached the toilet door, fearing an intruder had entered the house and was ready to attack him. | |
| "Mr Pistorius, you're in the room, you're shouting, she's three meters away from you in that particular door," he said. "There is no way that you'll convince a court she stood there and said nothing." | "Mr Pistorius, you're in the room, you're shouting, she's three meters away from you in that particular door," he said. "There is no way that you'll convince a court she stood there and said nothing." |
| A visibly shaken Pistorius insisted Ms Steenkamp did not respond or scream after he fired the first out of four shots, before adding: "I wish she had let me know". | A visibly shaken Pistorius insisted Ms Steenkamp did not respond or scream after he fired the first out of four shots, before adding: "I wish she had let me know". |
| The chief prosecutor insisted the athlete's perception that the noise of window opening and a door slamming convinced him that a burglar had entered the house, ran into the bathroom and lock the door is "improbable" and "far-fetched". Pistorius argued he didn't have time to think. | |
| "Do you think an intruder would go into the toilet and lock the door?," he demanded. "It is so far-fetched that it would happen, it's improbable that you think an intruder would run into the toilet and lock the door?" | "Do you think an intruder would go into the toilet and lock the door?," he demanded. "It is so far-fetched that it would happen, it's improbable that you think an intruder would run into the toilet and lock the door?" |
| Pistorius denies murdering Ms Steenkamp, claiming he shot her in a case of mistaken identity thinking she was a burglar. The state argues he intentionally shot and killed her following a domestic dispute. | |
| There are are no juries at trials in South Africa and his fate will ultimately be decided by Judge Masipa, assisted by two assessors. The case continues. |