‘I was crying out’ – Pistorius

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Gerrie Nel — who was probing Pistorius’s recollection of the events surrounding Steenkamp’s death after he shot her through the locked toilet door on February 14 last year — Pistorius said he was shouting Steenkamp’s name.

“I was crying out. I was screaming ‘Reeva, Reeva’… crying and screaming… I was overcome with terror and despair. At times I was screaming, at times I was crying out,” he said.

Pistorius has been charged with murdering Steenkamp. He claims to have mistaken her for an intruder, and that he fired the four shots through the door by accident.

Earlier, Pistorius confirmed that while he was initially trying to use his shoulder to barge through the toilet door, he was still holding the gun he had fired in his right hand.

Nel said: “Why would you still run around with the gun in your hand?”

He then asked Pistorius to again demonstrate how he hit the door with the cricket bat. Nel said based on Pistorius’s position, his back foot was one metre from the door and front foot 30cm from the door, with his left shoulder facing the door.

Following the demonstration, Nel argued that where Pistorius struck the door was higher up than shown.

Nel then asked Pistorius to recount in what position Steenkamp was lying when he managed to get inside the toilet.

As he described Steenkamp’s position, Pistorius’s voice rose to a higher pitch and he became emotional.

A picture of the toilet cubicle was shown to the court, on which Pistorius indicated Steenkamp’s position.

He said her right arm was lying on the toilet bowl, with her seated alongside it and her back against the wall.

In the photo shown to the court, Pistorius said Steenkamp was in the same position as the magazine rack, which at the time was further away from the toilet.

– Sapa