Shots fired in ‘sole purpose’ of killing

WITH the sole purpose to kill, Oscar Pistorius gunned down Reeva Steenkmap.

And the only remorse he showed was when he was overcome with emotion at the realisation of what he had done.

These were the closing statements of prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who ended five days of gruelling cross-examination of the athlete yesterday.

Nel repeatedly did his best to punch holes into Pistorius’ version of the events leading to his killing of Steenkamp.

“I will tell you what happened … the only reasonable inference from witnesses hearing blood curdling screams is Reeva screamed as she tried to escape from you.

“You shot her four times through the door knowing she was there, talking to you, that she had locked herself inside and you then armed yourself with the sole purpose of killing. Only afterwards were you overcome with what you had done.”

Pistorius said it was not true, and he had screamed out because “I was panicking, broken, crying out her name, pleading with the Lord”.

Nel’s cross-examination has left Pistorius’s defence team with serious problems, according to defence lawyer William Booth.

Some of the questions they must answer are:

• Why had Steenkamp not asked Pistorius where he was going when he got up out of bed?

 Why did Steenkamp not switch on a light to go to the bathroom if the room was pitch dark?

 Why did Pistorius not think it strange that Steenkamp did not ask him about the noise in the bathroom, respond to his request to call the police or his shouts about intruders?

 Why did Pistorius fire his gun, thinking an intruder was coming out of the toilet, as he said, while he could see the toilet door and did not see it open?

 Why did Pistorius stop firing after four shots?

 Why did Pistorius not turn on a light while searching for Steenkamp after he realised she was not in the bed after the shots?

Booth believes that even if the court accepted Pistorius’ version, “he has problems”.

He has given three versions, Booth said: “He acted consciously in putative self-defence; he said it was an accident … and he said he was not acting rationally”.

Pistorius’s lawyer Barry Roux closed his re-examination of Pistorius by having the athlete read out Steenkamp’s Valentine’s Day message.

It would have been the first time Steenkamp told Pistorius she loved him.

“I think today is a good day to tell you I love you,” choked Pistorius as he read out the message in the gift card. Proceedings continue today. — Additional reporting by Marzanne van den Berg