Oscar Pistorius faced another day of relentless cross-examination Friday, April 11, 2014 as the prosecution challenged his account of the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has accused the athlete of hiding the truth about the death of Steenkamp, whom he shot last year through a closed toilet door in his home in Pretoria, South Africa.
His questions Friday again sought to undermine Pistorius’ reliability and credibility — and to portray the athlete as someone who was inventing his version of events.
As Nel turned once again to the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year, he challenged Pistorius over his actions in the moments leading up to Steenkamp’s death.
Pistorius denied being “ready to shoot” as he made his way to the bathroom where he says he heard what he thought was an intruder.
But he agreed that he had taken off the safety catch so he could fire if needed.
“I didn’t want to take anybody’s life. I screamed for the intruders to get out of my home,” he said.
“You wanted to shoot,” Nel contended. Pistorius replied that there is a “massive difference” between being ready for something and wanting to do it.
Asked by the prosecutor why he approached the danger rather than seeking to move out of harm’s way, the athlete said it was his in his nature to respond that way.
“I wanted to put myself between the perceived danger and Reeva,” he said. “I wish I did all these other things put to me.”
Nel also argued it was “not possible” that Steenkamp would not have responded when Pistorius screamed to her about what he thought was an intruder in the house, as he has said happened.
Steenkamp was only 3 meters from Pistorius at the time behind the toilet door, the prosecutor said.
“She would’ve been terrified, but I don’t think that would’ve led her to call out,” Pistorius said, arguing that Steenkamp would’ve assumed the danger was getting closer.
“She wasn’t scared of anything except you. She wasn’t scared of an intruder. She was scared of you,” Nel replied.
The prosecutor also pressed Pistorius over whether he heard a woman screaming during the shots he fired, as some witnesses have said they heard.
Pistorius said Steenkamp did not scream and denied knowing that she was behind the door when he fired through it.
The judge granted Nel’s request for the court to be adjourned until Monday.
