Oscar Pistorius faced a second day of detailed testimony about the gunshot wounds suffered by his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, that left him sobbing and vomiting yesterday at his murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria.
The Paralympian gold medalist's brother and sister tried to console Pistorius as he cried and made retching sounds yesterday during medical examiner Gert Saayman's depiction of Steenkamp's wounds at the trial for premeditated murder in South Africa's capital. Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty, saying he thought she was an intruder in his bathroom.
Steenkamp was hit by shots to the hip, arm and head, Saayman, who said he carried out or supervised as many as 15,000 autopsies, told the court today. Defense lawyer Barry Roux asked for an adjournment to study research that Saayman used to conclude Steenkamp may have eaten two hours before she was shot, or after 1 a.m. on Feb. 14. Pistorius has said they went to bed at 10 p.m.
Steenkamp died of multiple gunshots wounds from hollow-point bullets that he described as designed to cause "maximum tissue damage," he said yesterday. She was wearing shorts and a vest at the time of her death, he said.
The shot to the head was incapacitating and almost instantly fatal, Saayman said. Steenkamp probably didn't breathe more than a few times after the head injury, he said.
Too Graphic
Masipa ruled that the testimony of Saayman, the head of the forensic medicine department at the University of Pretoria, not be broadcast on television or radio. Saayman requested his evidence not be streamed live because it was too graphic. The judge today lifted a ban on posting the testimony on Twitter.
Wearing a charcoal-colored suit, Pistorius sat on the accused bench in front of family members in the wood-paneled court.
Masipa will give final judgment after the scheduled three-week trial because South Africa doesn't have a jury system. Pistorius, who's also facing three gun charges, has been free on 1 million rand ($92,000) bail since February last year.
Roux yesterday disputed evidence of Pieter Baba, a security guard at the Silver Woods Country Estate where Pistorius lived, who testified Pistorius had initially said "everything is fine" when he spoke to him on the phone after neighbors had called for help. The athlete then called back and was crying, Baba said.
Short Temper
The athlete called Baba first, phone records of the morning show, Roux said in court today.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has portrayed Pistorius as usually armed and reckless with a hair-trigger temper. The defense team has tried to discredit testimony of neighbors about the timing of screams and gunshots and of an ex-girlfriend who said Pistorius always had a gun next to his bed and carried one with him whenever he could.
Nel may call more than 100 witnesses in a trial broadcast live on radio and TV. Apart from the murder charge, Pistorius faces two counts of illegally firing a gun in public and one of illegally possessing ammunition.
The charges have derailed the running career of the winner of six Paralympic gold medals and cost Pistorius sponsorship deals with Nike Inc. (NKE:US) and Luxottica Group SpA’s (LUX) Oakley. He was the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics Games in London in 2012.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Spillane in Pretoria at cspillane3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net Gordon Bell, Karl Maier
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