The second day of an almost graphic testimony of Reeva Steenkamp's gunshot wounds stemming from the 2013 Valentine's Day shooting of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius left him him obvious distress and vomited at one point at the High Court in Pretoria.
Bloomberg said that during medical examiner Gert Saayman's detailed depiction of Steenkamp's wounds at the trial, Pistorius cried and made retching sounds. Pistorius' sister was noted to have offered comfort to her brother with no avail.
Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa told defense lawyer Barry Roux, "You need to attend to Mr. Pistorius. I'm not sure what's happening."
In his recollection of the late model's wounds she sustained in the shooting, Saayman said that Steenkamp received various wounds thanks to the hollow-pointed bullets that he claimed were made to cause massive damage on a person's tissues yesterday. Saayman had also said that at the time of the shooting, Steenkamp was only wearing a vest and shorts. Moreover, the medical examiner had said that the shot to the head alone had incapacitated Steenkamp, who could have breathed only a few times before succumbing to her death.
Bloomberg said Saayman opted out of allowing the photo evidence to be broadcasted live due to its graphic nature. Masipa also ruled in court that the testimony of Saayman, who is the head of the University of Pretoria's forensic medicine department, to not be streamed live or shared in posts on Twitter as well, the news agency said.
Saayman is expected to return today to continue with his testimony, Bloomberg said.
Pistorius' camp has maintained that the athlete accidentally shot his girlfriend who he had mistaken for an intruder. Prosecutors claimed that Pistorius shot Steenkamp following a nasty quarrel. Bloomberg said Masipa is expected to hand out a final judgement after the scheduled three-week trial as there is no jury system in South Africa.
