Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial: Paralympian Breaks Down On The Stand Describing Fatal Shooting Of Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
April 8 2014, Published 11:09 a.m. ET
Emotions were at a fever pitch in South Africa's Pretoria court Tuesday, as Oscar Pistorius, testifying in his murder trial, forcefully cried in describing the sequence of events in his Feb. 14, 2013 shooting of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, 27, told the court he thought an intruder had broken into his home when he heard a noise coming from a bathroom window.
"My Lady, that's the moment that everything changed," he told Judge Thokozile Masipa. "I thought there was a burglar that gained entry to my house: the first thing that ran through my mind was that I needed to arm myself, get my gun.
He said he mistakenly believed the reality star-model was in the bed, before charging the door of the bathroom.
"I was talking to Reeva," Pistorius said, his voice cracking throughout. "Nobody responded to me. I lifted myself up and put my hand on the bed.
"I thought Reeva was there and I didn’t feel anything."
On guard, with gun in his hand, the admittedly security-obsessed athlete reeled off four shots through the bathroom door.
"At that point," Pistorius said, "all I wanted to do was just look inside to see if it was Reeva. I was screaming and crying the whole time. I don’t think I ever screamed or cried like that. I was screaming for God to help me."
Upon discovering he had felled the stunning model, a crying Pistorius described his reaction, as others in the courtroom were crying by that point.
"I got the door unlocked and flung the door open and I sat over Reeva and I cried. I don’t know how long. I don't know how long I was there. She wasn't breathing."