In a statement by Oscar Pistorious in court today, he said he had been on
the balcony of his house when he heard noises from the bathroom Believing Reeva Steenkamp was asleep, he grabbed his handgun and shouted a warning before firing four shots through the door, magistrate Desmond Nair was told. He claimed it was then he realised Steenkamp was not in bed. 'I kicked the door open,' he said. 'She was alive. I tried to help her but she died in my arms.'
But the police and the prosecutors painted a a picture of a premeditated
murder, saying that Steenkamp was shot when she took refuge in the
bathroom after the couple had been arguing ( see the illustrations above);
'The applicant armed himself, attached
his prosthesis, walked seven metres to the bathroom and shot the
deceased while she was in the toilet. 'He shot four times...There's no
possible explanation to support his report that he thought it was a
burglar,' he said. 'If I
arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated,'
he said. 'The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven metres and
I kill.'
Read Oscar's full statement after the cut...