Photo – NBC News
Day two of the Oscar Pistorius trial has come to an end with the prosecution asking for the court to adjourn until the morning. Two witnesses have come forward claiming to have heard screams followed by gunshots.
The second day of the trial began with further cross examination of Michelle Burger, a neighbor of the para-olympian, who claimed to have heard a woman screaming before four gunshots on the night of the 14th February 2013, the night that Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Burger claimed to have heard both a woman, then a man shouting during the night followed by one gunshot, a pause and a further three gunshots in quick succession. She stated to the court,
“The fear in that woman’s voice; you only fear like that if your life is threatened.”
The defence line was clear as strong questioning attempted to discredit Ms. Burger stating that the loud noises she heard could have potentially been that of Mr. Pistorius breaking down the bathroom door with a cricket bat. Burger refuted this claim stating that the difference between a baseball bat and a gunshot is distinctive.
At the beginning of the day Ms. Burger had claimed that she heard another scream after the final gunshot. The defence put forward that Burger’s statement could not have been accurate as the shot sustained by Steenkamp to the head had inflicted so much brain damage that she would not have been conscious. Upon hearing the detailed descriptions of Steenkamp’s injuries, Pistorius dropped his head into his hands and cried.
A second witness Estelle Van Der Merwe, another neighbor of the South African athlete, took the stand.
She testified that she was awoken by a man and woman fighting in the early hours of the night of the murder.
“It seemed like somebody was involved in a fight,” said Ms Van Der Merwe, who lives in the same gated Pretoria housing estate as the Paralympic athlete. “People were talking in loud voices.”
The argument woke her at about 01:56 local time (23:56 GMT) and lasted about an hour. After that, she heard four loud sounds in succession.
Mrs Van Der Merwe told state prosecutor Gerrie Nel she had been irritated by the noise of the argument and placed a pillow on her head “in hope of falling asleep again”. She could not however understand what was being said or in what language.
If found guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius could face life imprisonment. The trial continues at 9.30am (Pretoria) tomorrow morning.
