On Tuesday, South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius took to the stand again during his high-profile murder trial to describe the night he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Through uncontrollable sobs, Pistorius told the courtroom how he heard a window slide open in the locked bathroom, believing it to an intruder. He opened fire, shooting four times into the bathroom.
“I was afraid … someone was going to start shooting,” he added. “I heard a noise from inside the toilet. Before I knew it, I’d fired four shots at the door. There was ringing in my ears.”
Three of those hollow-point bullets hit Steenkamp.
When he realized she was inside, the Blade Runner described how he used a cricket bat to smash open the door to his bathroom and found the 29-year-old model inside.
After initial panic, he said that “it first dawned on me that it could be Reeva inside the toilet” rather than an intruder.
“I didn’t want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilet,” Pistorius said. “I jumped out and ran my hand along the curtain to see that she wasn’t hiding behind the curtain.”
“I sat over Reeva and I cried,” he said, shaking with emotion so hard that the trial was adjourned for the rest of the afternoon.
He continued:
“I shouted from the balcony for help, I screamed for somebody to help me. I put my legs on ran as fast as I could into the bathroom. I was just panicked at this point. I didn’t know what to make or what to do.
“I was screaming and shouting the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed liked that. I was crying out for the Lord to help me.”
When images of her body were briefly shown to the court, Pistorius’ face turned a bright red and he vomited into a green bucket placed beside him.
For more on Pistorius’ testimony in court today, click here.
SOURCE: NBC | VIDEO SOURCE: News, Inc.
