The Oscar trial day 18: Top five things you need to know

1 Early in the day Prosecutor Nel took the defence by surprise when he question Pistorius about a video filmed at shooting range in which Pistorius is seen firing a shot described as a ‘zombie-stopper’.

2 “It makes me very upset to hear myself saying something like that,” said Pistorius. However he stated that it was not relevant to the trial because he was talking about a Zombie not a human being.

3 Nel then showed the court a photo of Steenkamp’s wounded head. Speaking of the watermelon in the video Nel said: “It exploded. You know the same happened to Reeva?” Pistorius responded saying he didn’t need to see the photo as he was there. Then he broke down. Court was adjourned briefly.

4 Throughout questioning Pistorius maintained that he “did not intent to kill Reeva or anybody else for that matter.” He stated that he had the gun in his hand with his finger on the trigger when the bathroom door opened. He stated that he panicked and fired at the door.

5 The prosecution is trying to prove that Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp. Nel vowed to ‘get to the truth’ when he began questioning this morning.