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Oscar Trial: Day 13 summary
==by Motseothata Canah Gaothuse=



In an eventful thirteenth day at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, the court heard continued ballistic evidence and blood spatter analysis, as well as details of the web history of an iPad recovered from the Paralympian’s house.

Captain Christian Mangema, the state’s ballistics expert, testified that he believed it was most probable that Pistorius had fired four shots through the toilet door while on his stumps, from a distance no closer than 60cm from the door.

According to Mangena he couldn’t determine the furthest distance from which shots were fired,he accepted that some could have been fired from the back wall of the bathroom, as given in Pistorius’s version of events.Mangena also gave his version of the order the shots were fired, based on his investigation.

The late Reeva Steenkamp and South African paralympian Oscar Pistorious. The late Reeva Steenkamp and South African paralympian Oscar Pistorious. He believed that the first bullet hit Reeva Steenkamp in the hip, while she was standing facing the toilet door, with the force of the impact through her back resulting in her landing in a seated position on a magazine rack against the back wall of the cubicle.

While he was unable to determine whether it was the second or third shot that missed Steenkamp and ricocheted off the cubicle wall, he testified that the bruising found on Steenkamp’s back was caused by fragments from the ricochet bullet and that another bullet had hit her in the right upper arm while it was in an raised position.

Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial
The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius was postponed at the North Gauteng High Court on Friday until April 7, when the South African Paralympic and Olympic track star is expected to take the stand in his own defence in a high stakes bid to prove his innocence and avoid life in prison.

Judge Thokozile Masipa postponed proceedings for more than a week due to illness of one of the legal assistants who has been sitting at her side throughout the trial, one of the most high profile in South African history. Prosecutors took 15 days to lay out their case against the 27 year old, arguing he deliberately killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year by firing four rounds from a 9 mm pistol through a closed toilet door.

Several neighbours testified to hearing a woman’s terrified screams before a volley of shots,countering Pistorius’assertions that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the toilet cubicle in the middle of the night,Pistorius faces at least 25 years in prison. The trial has gripped South Africa and millions of athletics fans around the world who saw Pistorius as a symbol of triumph over physical adversity.

The sprinter’s lower legs were amputated as a baby but he went on to achieve global fame as the fastest man on no legs, winning gold medals at the Beijing and London Paralympics. He also won a battle against athletics authorities for the right to compete against able bodied men, becoming the first amputee runner at an Olympics when he reached the 400 metres semi finals in London 2012.

Pistorius apologises to the family of slain girlfriend


Oscar Pistorius fought through tears to apologise to the family of his slain girlfriend Reeva Steeenkamp,as he took the witness stand in his defense Monday. Stammering and with his jaw trembling,Pistorius told the court he did not intend to kill his 29 year old lover on Valentine’s Day last year. The Paralympic gold medalist is accused of premeditated murder,but claims he shot the model though a locked toilet door believing she was an intruder.’’I want to take this opportunity to apologise to Mr and Mrs Steenkamp,’’he said,at times barely audible as he sobbed.’’I was trying to protect Reeva,I want people to know that she was loved when she went to bed that night.’’ In the tribunal Steenkamp’s mother June, flanked by other relatives, sat stony faced during apology. She has for weeks sat through gruesome evidence, including brutal images of her dead daughter.’’I tried to put my words on paper to write to you but no words can ever suffice,’’he continued.

The athlete cut a broken and emotional figure as he spoke publicly for the first time about events on the night Steenkamp died.’’I have had terrible nightmares,’’he said since the night of the shooting,adding:’’I wake up at night smelling blood.’’ He also said that since the shooting he has taken sleeping pills and anti depressants. Pistorius told the court that on one occasion after waking in the middle of the night he crawled into a cupboard because he was so scared.

After five weeks of prosecution testimony,Monday was the first day Pistorius’s defence. After calling a pathologist,Pistorius took to the stand,outlining about his problems since the shooting and his early life growing up with disability and without his father present.’’My mother had a pistol,’’he added.’’She kept her firearm in a padded bag under her pillow.’’She died when Pistorius was aged 15.

‘’When she passed away it was much unexpected,’’he told the court. ‘We weren’t informed that she was sick and by the time we were told she was in a coma.’He also testified about his vulnerability when he doesn’t wear prosthetics.’I don’t have balance on my stumps,’’he said.

Pistorius certainly not suicidal-uncle


Paralympic sprint champion Oscar Pistorius is in deep mourning after killing his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, but is certainly not suicidal his family said Monday. Following the tragic event and the enormous global interst the family of Oscar Pistorius has taken the decision to devote his official website to the latest news about developments as well as messages of support. The website will provide the opportunity for the media to make enquiries or requests but for understandable legal reasons it may not always be possible to respond or comment. ‘‘Oscar,broken as he currently is, believes he has a purpose in life and is working towards that. Media reports to the contrary are untrue,’’said his uncle Arnold Pistorius.

The 27 year old double amputee was earlier said by a friend to be ‘‘on the verge of suicide’’as he fights a charge of premeditated murder for shooting dead Reeva Steeenkamp at his Pretoria hme.According to a close friend,the sprinter’s state of mind had worsened since he was tasked with selling his racehorses to raise money to pay for his spiraling legal fees.’’I would say that,just speaking to him, that he is a broken man and that I would go as far to say that he would be on the verge of suicide.It really worries me,’’the friend Mike Azzie told an upcoming BBC 3 documentary.

In a statement the Pistorius family said it did not deny that ‘‘Oscar’s legal expenses are massive and that he has sold off some of his investments, including his racehorses.’’ But it said that the costs will be evaluated on ‘‘a day to day basis’’and decisions then made. Earlier, a family spokesman said Pistorius was planning to sell the luxury home in a gated community where he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door on Valentine’s Day. Oscar Trial: Day 13 summary In an eventful thirteenth day at the Oscar Pistorius murder trial, the court heard continued ballistic evidence and blood spatter analysis, as well as details of the web history of an iPad recovered from the Paralympian’s house.

Captain Christian Mangema, the state’s ballistics expert, testified that he believed it was most probable that Pistorius had fired four shots through the toilet door while on his stumps, from a distance no closer than 60cm from the door. Mangena couldn’t determine the furthest distance from which shots were fired, accepting that some could have been fired from the back wall of the bathroom, as given in Pistorius’s version of events.

Mangena also gave his version of the order the shots were fired, based on his investigation.

The late Reeva Steenkamp and South African paralympian Oscar Pistorious. The late Reeva Steenkamp and South African paralympian Oscar Pistorious. He believed that the first bullet hit Reeva Steenkamp in the hip, while she was standing facing the toilet door, with the force of the impact through her back resulting in her landing in a seated position on a magazine rack against the back wall of the cubicle.

While he was unable to determine whether it was the second or third shot that missed Steenkamp and ricocheted off the cubicle wall, he testified that the bruising found on Steenkamp’s back was caused by fragments from the ricochet bullet and that another bullet had hit her in the right upper arm while it was in an raised position.

Mangena told the court that the fourth bullet resulted in the fatal shot to Steenkamp’s head and the impact threw her to the ground, with her head landing on the toilet Mangena also testified that the Black Talon bullets used by Pistorius didn’t break apart after hitting the door, but did when they came into contact with her body.

A determined and assertive witness, Mangena repeatedly told defence advocate Barry Roux during cross-examination that he didn’t agree with the version put forward by the defence, that Steenkamp had her right shoulder facing the door and was in a seated position leaning forward when she was hit by the bullet in the hip. Mangena disagreed with Pistorius’s statement that he had fired two “double taps” – two sets of shots in quick succession – as this would have resulted in close groupings of shots on Steenkamp’s body.

Mangena was followed in the witness box by blood spatter analyst, Colonel Ian Van der Nest, who testified that the splatter on the stairs leading up to the bedroom was consistent with Pistorius’s account of carrying Steenkamp’s body down the stairs, and that much of the splatter had come from the model’s blood-soaked hair.

Van der Nest told the court that his findings matched the reconstruction of events provided by Mangena, but he also agreed with the version of events given by Pistorius in his affidavit during his bail application last year, insofar as it related to Van der Nest’s area of investigation.

There was great excitement among journalists in the gallery on the arrival of police data analyst, Colonel Mike Sales, one of three policemen who flew to the United States earlier this year to meet with Apple to gain access to information on Pistorius’s iPhone.

Sales downloaded data from two iPads found in Pistorius’s house, including web history and bookmarks.

The iPad 3 he analysed only included browser history for the day of February 13 2013 up to 9pm. Records displayed showed several searches relating to cars and the last two items were a Google search for “free mobile porn” and a site called “youjizz.”

Sales told Roux under cross-examination that his analysis couldn’t identify who had accessed the iPad, only that these sites had been accessed on the device at certain times.

Nel asked Judge Thokozile Masipa for a postponement of the case until Monday morning to consult with witnesses. He indicated that the state’s case was almost over, with only four or five state witnesses still to be called, including some from the Silver Woods Estates in Pretoria, where the shooting occurred. Roux agreed to the request, on the understanding that the state’s case would wrap up early next week.Masipa postponed the case to Monday.

Trial to last until mid May
Pistorius admits that he killed Steenkamp,firing four shots through a closed door in his house in the early hours of February 14,2013. Three hit her, with the last one probably killing her almost instantly according to the pathologist who performed the autopsy.

But Pistorius says he thought she was a night time intruder in his pitch black house and believed he was firing in self defence. The trial which began March 3 is scheduled to continue until the middle May. Pistorius first achieved global fame as an outstanding double amputee sprinter who ran with special prostheses that earned him the nickname ‘’Blade Runner.’’

The Pistorius family and Oscar‘s management company have been inundated with messages of support and condolences for Oscar and for the family of Reeva Steenkamp from all over the world. , his defence counsel, Barry Roux, sought to show the couple were in a loving relationship, noting they often exchanged compliments, messages of affection and said they missed each other. He showed Pretoria's High Court a photograph of the model wearing a hoodie and blowing a kiss to the athlete just a month before her death, and footage of the couple kissing at a convenient store in Pretoria. Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned the relevance of the CCTV footage and signalled the messages of affection were short, compared to their longer, emotional arguments. On Monday, text messages shown in court painted a picture of a jealous and possessive boyfriend who often "snapped" at Ms Steenkamp and accused her of flirting with other men. In a message sent on 27 January, Ms Steenkamp wrote: "I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me." The model said she felt "picked on" and "attacked" by the one person she deserved protection from - referring to the athlete.

Pistorius has pleaded not guilty of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year. Prosecutors argue he intentionally shot and killed the 29-year old model following a domestic dispute. There are no juries at trials in South Africa and the fate of the Blade Runner will ultimately be decided by judge Masipa, assisted by two assessors. If Pistorius is found guilty, he could face life imprisonment.