Oscar explains crying spell
Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius explained on Monday why he became emotional when he recalled what he shouted at "intruders" in his Pretoria home.
Family members of paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius attend his ongoing murder trial at the high court in Pretoria, Monday, 14 April 2014. Pistorius stands trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013. Picture: Kim Ludbrook/EPA/Pool
He told the High Court in Pretoria this happened because he was traumatised.
After a tea break, prosecutor Gerrie Nel summed up what Pistorius had told the court 30 minutes earlier, that he said he shouted at Reeva Steenkamp, and then he became emotional.
Court had to be adjourned for him to compose himself.
Nel, who was cross-examining him, asked him why.
“Isn’t it because that’s exactly what you shouted at Reeva, with respect to the court, ‘get the f*** out of my house’?”
Pistorius replied: “I was traumatised by the events. By repeating the words it reminds me of that night.”
Pistorius has been charged with murdering his girlfriend Steenkamp in his Pretoria house on February 14 last year.
According to Pistorius, he first whispered at Steenkamp to call the police, and moments later shouted at her.
Nel asked why he would raise his voice when nothing had happened in the interim.
“When I shouted I was hoping the burglars would be scared,” Pistorius replied.
He shot her through the locked door of his toilet, saying later he thought she was an intruder about to come out and attack him.
The State alleges that he shot Steenkamp during an argument.
He is also charged with three contraventions of the Firearms Control Act, one of illegal possession of ammunition and two of discharging a firearm in public.
He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013.
On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
He has denied guilt on all the charges.
– Sapa
