11 crimes at Silver Woods Estate in three years – Oscar Trial
Eleven crimes were reported in Oscar Pistorius's townhouse complex in three years, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Tuesday.
FILE PICTURE: State prosecutor Gerrie Nel is seen during the Oscar Pistorius murder trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Thursday, 13 March 2014. The Paralympian pleaded not guilty to murder, although he admits killing Reeva Steenkamp by shooting her through a locked bathroom door. He mistook her for a burglar in his house, saying he made a tragic but understandable mistake. The murder trial has been compared to that of the OJ Simpson case in the United States 20 years ago. Picture: Alet Pretorius/Media24/Pool
Two of these were the killing of Pistorius’s girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home, in the Silver Woods Estate on February 14, 2013, and the theft of one of his watches hours afterwards, Warrant Officer Hendrick Maritz said to questioning by prosecutor Gerrie Nel.
The others were cases of fraud and theft and a house robbery on 24 October 2011.
“And there were no other house robberies or burglaries?” Nel asked.
“None we could pick up on our system,” Maritz replied.
The statistics Maritz was being questioned on covered the period January 2011 to April 2013. The estate is in the Silver Lakes area of Pretoria.
Pistorius is on trial for the murder of Steenkamp. He claims he shot her through the locked door of his toilet thinking she was an intruder. Shortly after the shooting, while the police forensics team was on the scene, one of Pistorius’s expensive watches was stolen from his bedroom.
Maritz is attached to the crime information office of the Boschkop police station and tasked with compiling daily reports on which areas crimes are committed in.
Nel asked Maritz if Pistorius had ever appeared on the police’s case administration system as either a complainant or an accused before February 14, 2013. He replied no.
Barry Roux, for Pistorius, then began his cross-examination.
– Sapa
