Oscar wanted meetings with Steenkamps
Murder accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius did ask for a meeting with the Steenkamp family, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Friday.
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel gestures while paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is testifying during his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Thursday, 10 April 2014. Picture: Marco Longari/AFP/Pool
As soon as the court started, prosecutor Gerrie Nel stood up and spoke.
“I received a request from Mrs Steenkamp to inform me through her advocate that Mr Pistorius requested a meeting, but they are not yet ready.”
Nel said he was told this after Thursday’s adjournment and that he was mentioning this for the court record. He then continued his cross-examination of Pistorius.
It was not clear exactly when Pistorius requested the meeting.
On Thursday, Nel asked Pistorius under cross-examination why he did not meet the family in private after shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, instead of making a public apology while in the dock.
Pistorius is accused of the murder of the model and law graduate in his Pretoria house on February 14 last year. He shot her through the locked door of his toilet, apparently thinking she was an intruder about to come out and attack him.
Steenkamp’s mother June has been in court with her advocate Dup de Bruyn. Her father Barry has been too ill to attend proceedings.
Pistorius 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.
– Sapa
