Oscar Pistorius was cross-examined on Thursday as his murder trial for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp continues in South Africa.
Prosecuting attorney Gerrie Nel not only sought to prove that Pistorius knowingly fired his weapon at Steenkamp on February 14, 2013, but also that he’s exhibited a pattern of hothead behavior that made Steenkamp fear him. Nel also looked to depict Pistorius as selfish and unwilling to take blame for any of his wrongdoings.
"Have you snapped at Reeva in the past?" Nel asked Pistorius at one point in the cross-examination. "I guess I have got upset with her," the athlete replied, adding, "Reeva was never scared of me.”
Citing text messages sent between Steenkamp and Pistorius, Nel remarked about how she accused him of picking on her, brushing her off and chastising her for chewing gum. While he says, “She never lied,” Pistorius also said, “I didn’t treat her badly.”
While there were notes of affection among the texting arguments, Nel noted that not once did the two say “I love you” to each other. They were in the “foundation phase of their relationship,” explained Pistorius, who added, “I never got the opportunity to tell Reeva that I loved her.”
When Nel wasn’t trying to give a picture of Pistoruis’ personality and relationship with Steenkamp, he attempted to break apart his testimony about the day she died. Nel questioned the placement of the fans in his bedroom, how he could not have known that Steenkamp wasn’t in the bed, and the way in which he fired his shots into the locked bathroom.
"If Reeva had come out or if she had spoken to me, I would not have fired,” Pistorius maintained. “I didn't have time to think and I fired my weapon. It was an accident.”
Nel, who wasn’t afraid to call the paralympian a liar throughout his testimony, said that his version of events the night Steenkamp died were “so improbable, no one would ever think it's true".
– Chelsea Regan
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