10 key qoutes from the Oscar trial

AFTER 39 days in court and 37 witnesses on the stand, these 10 quotes sum up some of the key moments of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

1. "It was bloodcurdling."

This is how university lecturer and state witness Michelle Burger described the screams she heard on the morning of February 14 last year, when Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door at his home in Pretoria's Silver Woods Estate.

Burger said she and her husband, Charl Johnson, who lived 177m from Pistorius's house, were awoken by a woman's hysterical screaming around 3am. She said she heard a man call for help three times before the woman screamed again, more intensely than before. The screaming faded away with the sound of four gunshots, she said.

"It reached a climax, she was very scared. I thought something terrible must have happened in that house. The fear in her voice was indescribable," Burger said.

2. “You know … if Mr Pistorius is very anxious, if he screams, it sounds like a woman’s voice.”

Barry Roux, Pistorius's advocate, put this statement to Burger and four other neighbours of Pistorius who testified that they heard a woman screaming around the same time as gunshots.

The defence's case is that Steenkamp never screamed and the neighbours heard Pistorius screaming.

Pistorius testified that he first screamed at the intruders he thought were hiding in the bathroom to get out before firing the shots.

Pistorius said that once he realised it may have been Steenkamp in the toilet, he screamed in panic while hitting the toilet door with a cricket bat to break it open.

3. "The projectile is designed to cause maximum tissue damage."

This is how state pathologist Professor Gert Saayman described the bullets Pistorius fired at Steenkamp.

Saayman said the bullets, called "Black Talon", are designed to open up like a flower when they hit tissue, with very sharp edges to the petals.

This statement about maximum damage has been disputed by defence witnesses.

4. "I am scared of u sometimes and how u snap at me and how u react to me (sic)."

This sentence appeared in a WhatsApp message from Steenkamp to Pistorius.

It was one of a handful of exchanges between the two that the prosecution presented to show the couple’s relationship was not without problems.

In this message, Steenkamp complained of Pistorius "throwing tantrums in front of people" and expressed her disappointment that he thought she had flirted with another man. In another, she was upset about a fight they had in the parking lot as they were leaving a function.

On the stand, Pistorius said the disagreements were not big issues and were always quickly resolved.

5. "I am scared to sleep. I wake up and smell blood."

Pistorius told the court that he has had depression since the shooting and struggles to sleep because he has nightmares and wakes up smelling blood.

He has said he is taking medication for depression and anxiety, as well as sleeping tablets.

Pistorius described an incident where he woke up in such a panic that he hid in a closet to calm himself before calling his sister to comfort him.

6. "Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door."

This is how Pistorius described shooting Steenkamp.

Pistorius testified that he was terrified after hearing the bathroom window opening and he thought a burglar had entered. His only thought was that he had to protect himself and Steenkamp, he said.

He got his firearm, went into the passage to the bathroom and heard the toilet door close.

Turning the corner and looking at the toilet door, he said he heard a noise in the toilet which he thought was someone coming out, at which he fired the shots.

7. "It's not as soft as brains, but f***, it's like a zombie stopper."

Pistorius said this in a video clip shown in court, in which he can be seen firing at a watermelon at a shooting range. The fruit explodes.

"The same happened to Reeva's head. It exploded," Nel told him.

This moment early on in Nel's cross-examination of Pistorius set the tone for what would be an emotional five days of cross-examination for Pistorius.

"I'm very upset to hear myself saying those words. My comments were distasteful but I was referring to a zombie, not a human being," Pistorius responded.

8. "You armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing Reeva."

Nel wrapped up his cross-examination of Pistorius with this statement, which the athlete denied.

Nel told Pistorius that he and Steenkamp had argued before she fled from him and locked herself in the toilet, and that he knew she was behind the toilet door when he fired four shots through it.

9. "It is my opinion, My Lady, that Mr Pistorius has an anxiety disorder."

The opinion of psychiatrist Professor Merryll Vorster, who said an anxiety disorder may have influenced Pistorius's actions on the morning of the shooting, led to Pistorius undergoing court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

It was done so that a panel of three psychiatrists and a psychologist could report on whether Pistorius, at the time of the shooting, was able to distinguish between right and wrong and act accordingly.

The panel of doctors found that Pistorius had no mental defect or disorder at the time of the shooting that would have affected his actions.

10. "You have a paradox of an individual who is supremely able and an individual who is significantly disabled."

Professor Wayne Derman, a sports and exercise doctor, painted this picture of the two faces of Pistorius.

Derman, who has been team doctor for the South African disabled athletics team at numerous events, said that Pistorius's vulnerability as a disabled person should be taken into account.

The same point was raised by orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gerald Versfeld.

"On his stumps, in a dangerous situation, his ability to flee is severely impaired and his ability to ward off danger without a weapon is severely impaired," Versfeld said.