Oscar Pistorius maintains innocence
Murder-accused Oscar Pistorius maintained on Wednesday that he did not deliberately shoot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius talks to his lawyer Barry Roux before the start of court proceedings of his murder trial on Monday, 24 March 2014 at the high court in Pretoria. Pistorius is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp whom he shot through a bathroom door on Valentine’s Day last year. He claims that he mistook her for an intruder. Picture: Chris Collingridge/TheStar/Pool
“I didn’t say I didn’t do it. I said I didn’t deliberately do it,” he told the High Court in Pretoria.
“That’s the truth of what happened.”
The double amputee was being grilled by prosecutor Gerrie Nel about his bail statement.
It read: “I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps. I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police.”
Nel asked Pistorius repeatedly why he had shot at the door in the first place after Pistorius had used the word “accidentally” earlier in testimony, and said it was an accident that he discharged the firearm.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year, saying he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom.
– Sapa
