Oscar Pistorius was distraught – neighbours

The court heard testimony from defence witnesses Johan Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen, the paralympian’s neighbours in the Silver Woods Estate in Pretoria.

The paralympian, who says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, has been charged with murdering her.

Stander said Pistorius called him at 3.18am, shortly after Steenkamp was shot and killed.

He told the court that when Pistorius called him he said: “Oom (uncle) Johan please, please, please come to my house. I shot Reeva, I thought she was an intruder.

“Please, please, please come quick,” Stander said.

When he got out of bed Viljoen came out of her room and said she had heard someone scream.

When Viljoen testified she said she was woken by her dog barking in her bedroom in the early morning that day.

“It wasn’t only my dog that was barking. Other dogs in the neighbourhood were also restless and barking,” she said to questioning by Barry Roux, for Pistorius.

She said she had left her sliding balcony doors open. As she moved to close them, Viljoen said she heard three consecutive screams for help. She was struck with fear and got back onto her bed.

Stander and Viljoen were the first people who arrived on the scene after the shooting.

“We saw Mr Pistorius coming down the stairs with Reeva in his arms. When Mr Pistorius saw us there was relief in his face.”

He said when Pistorius reached the bottom of the stairs Carice asked him to put Steenkamp down so they could see what was wrong.

“He was really crying. He was in pain and he asked us to please assist him to put Reeva in the car and take her to the hospital,” he said.

Viljoen said Pistorius was begging his dying girlfriend to stay with him and was praying to God to save her life.

“He said, ‘stay with me my love, stay with me’.”

Viljoen said she spoke to Pistorius and asked him what had happened while they were trying to stop Steenkamp’s bleeding.

“He just looked at me and he said, ‘I thought it was an intruder’.”

She did not ask him for more detail because they were trying to save Steenkamp’s life. When paramedics arrived, she told Pistorius to step aside so they could work on Steenkamp.

“Oscar was in a state and asked the paramedics to do whatever they could to save her life.”

The athlete went upstairs to fetch Steenkamp’s bag after the paramedics asked him for identification.

Viljoen said she did not go with him, but when she realised that the gun was upstairs she ran after him.

“I thought he was going to go and shoot himself and I shouted to him to bring the bag.”

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 has also denied guilt on all charges.

The trial resumes on Tuesday.

– Sapa