Prosecutor Gerrie Nel Goes Harder On Oscar Pistorius, Accusing Him Of Deliberately Shooting Girlfriend

Oscar Pistorius and late girlfriend Reeva

                                

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel during today's cross-examination asked Oscar Pistorius the question many of us following this case would have asked him. It went on a top climax as the prosecutor accused Pistorius of shooting his girlfriend through a toilet door after they argued in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year.

Mr Nel later followed up with his central accusation - that the couple had an argument and Steenkamp fled to the toilet pursued by Pistorius, who then shot her through the closed wooden door....Keep reading

The  cross-examination:

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel

 Mr Nel said: 'If you spoke to Reeva, the two of you could have taken lots of other steps.'

Pistorius said he thought the perceived threat could strike at any moment: 'There was no time.'
 During the cross-examination, Pistorius said Steenkamp did not scream at any point during the incident. However, the 27-year-old track star said that he may not have heard her cries because of his ears ringing from the first shot.

Mr Nel
Several people living nearby have testified to hearing a woman's terrified screams before and during a volley of shots. 'She's awake. She's in the toilet. You're shouting. You're screaming. You're three metres from her. She would have responded. She would not have been quiet, Mr Pistorius,' Mr Nel said.

 'She didn't respond, my Lady,' Pistorius replied, addressing judge Thokozile Masipa.

'Did she scream at all whilst you shot her four times?' Mr Nel continued.

 'No, my Lady.' Pistorius said

 'Are you sure? Are you sure, Mr Pistorius, that Reeva did not scream after the first shot?' Mr Nel continued. 'Are you, Mr Pistorius?' After a brief silence, Pistorius said: 'My Lady, I wish she had let me know she was there.'

 'After you fired the first shot, did she scream?' Mr Nel asked.

'No, my Lady.'

Are you sure? Would you have heard her?' Mr Nel asked.

'I don't think I would have heard her.' 'Exactly.' 'A gunshot went off, my ears were ringing,' Pistorius said.

'How can you exclude the fact she was screaming if you couldn't hear?' Mr Nel asked.

 'If I couldn't hear it then I couldn't hear,' Pistorius retorted.

'No, you said, Mr Pistorius, she never screamed. You couldn't hear. You're just saying that,' Mr Nel said.

'That is what I'm saying,' Pistorius replied.

'No, that's not what you're saying. You're saying she didn't scream,' Mr Nel followed up.

'My Lady, the sound of that gunshot in the bathroom, you wouldn't have heard anyone scream. The decibels of the gunshot, I don't believe you would have heard anyone scream. When I had finished firing the gunshots, I was screaming and I couldn't hear my own voice.' Pistorius replied.

late Reeva's mother June Steenkamp during court proceeding

 Mr Nel  examined the details of the alarm system at Pistorius' house,questioning why the athlete would believe an intruder had broken into his home when he had extensive security measures, including interior and exterior sensors.Pistorius said he activated the sensors on the home alarm system before going to sleep on the night he killed Miss Steenkamp, but feared that building contractors doing work on his house may have moved some of the security beacons.

Querying why Pistorius had not mentioned those fears earlier, Mr Nel said the athlete was trying to build a story to explain his fears of an intruder and therefore a mistaken shooting.

 'This is the biggest example of you tailoring your evidence,' Mr Nel said. Pistorius denied he was fabricating a story.

Pistorius said he 'must have' turned off the alarm, which Mr Nel described as a vague response. The prosecutor then asked Pistorius, who acknowledged making a mistake in his testimony, if he needed time before continuing with his testimony.

 'I don't need time,' the Olympic athlete said. 'I am tired. It's not going to change.'

Mr Nel responded: 'You're trying to cover up for lies and I'm not convinced.'

Judge Thokozile Masipa interjected, asking Pistorius if he was too tired to proceed. 'You can be at a disadvantage when you're in that box,' she said, adding that it wasn't fair to the court if he was not alert during the proceedings. Pistorius replied that he was able to go on.

Judge Masipa later also told Mr Nel to 'mind his language' as she reminded him he was not allowed to call a witness a liar.

Oscar Pistorius brother Carl

Mr Nel also argued that Pistorius was prepared to lie about an incident as far back as five years ago when he claims someone shot at him from another car on a highway to build a backstory that he had a long-held fear of being attacked.

Pistorius said he slowed down turned off the highway and eventually went to a restaurant car park and called someone to come and pick him up. Mr Nel asked Pistorius who he called and Pistorius replied he couldn't remember.

'You cannot not remember,' Mr Nel said. It was 'such a traumatic incident,' the prosecutor said. Mr Nel said Pistorius' failing to remember who he called was because 'it never happened.'

 'It's the one night that someone almost shot you, am I right?' Mr Nel said. Pistorius said it was. 'If I could remember who I phoned I would gladly give you their name,' Pistorius said.

The prosecution says Pistorius killed the 29-year-old after an argument on February 14, 2013.  Pistorius, 27, faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder. His trial began March 3.