Couple thought Pistorius had been shot
A couple who heard screams followed by gunshots coming from Oscar Pistorius's home believed that Pistorius had been shot, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.
FILE PICTURE: Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius enters the dock ahead of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Wednesday, 5 March 2014. Pistorius is on trial for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his suburban Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year. He says he mistook her for an intruder. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool
Under cross-examination, Charl Johnson agreed that while he and his wife had heard screams of help coming from a woman, they did not think she was the one who was shot.
“We thought the husband had been shot,” said Johnson.
His evidence corroborated that of his wife Michelle Burger, who stated that the petrified screams of a woman which came from the house stopped after the shooting.
Barry Roux, SC, for Pistorius, asked Johnson: “So despite the screams, you never thought it was the woman that was in danger?”
“Yes,” responded Johnson.
The couple live at the Silver Stream Estate, which is next to Silver Woods Country Estate, the complex where Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
He claimed he had mistaken her for an intruder.
Burger, who completed her testimony on Tuesday, listened attentively as her husband delivered his testimony.
After remaining composed under the intense questioning by Roux, Burger on Tuesday crumbled and broke down in the dock, saying she could still hear Steenkamp’s screams.
On Wednesday, Pistorius continued to take notes as proceedings continued.
– Sapa
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