The lawyers of Oscar Pistorius has presented additional witnesses in court to bulk up a shaken defense that the once-celebrated athlete's shooting of his late girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, was not premeditated, Bloomberg reported.
The double-amputee has pleaded not guilty to murder and claimed that he thought Steenkamp in the bathroom of his house was an unknown in intruder. Steenkamp was fatally shot through a toilet door on valentine's Day last year. Prior to the weeks-long adjournment of the trial, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the athlete and Steenkamp had a fight prior to the fatal incident, and that some of Pistorius' neighbors have heard shouting and a woman's screams a little after 3 in the morning that day. Moreover, he had accused the runner of tailoring his testimony to fit in with the evidence presented in court and also undermined the defense team's portrayal of Pistorius as a religious person in a loving relationship with the late model.
In the high court of Pretoria, South Africa today, Eontle Nhlengethwa told the court, "I heard somebody saying help help help. It was a very loud sound, my lady. It was the sound of a male person's voice."
She also said that she and her husband Michael woke to a sound of a bang and did not hear any screams. Earlier, Michael testified that Pistorius had introduced Steenkamp to him as his fiance and was told by the athlete that he had moved from Johannesburg to Pretoria to be closer to his girlfriend.
Before the couple, a father and daughter team had also testified in court yesterday about the moments following Pistorius' call to them about the fatal shooting, Bloomberg said. Manager Johan Stander of the gated community where Pistorius' estate is located said that he and his daughter saw Pistorius carrying Steenkamp down the stairs following their arrival at the scene.
"When he reached the bottom of the stairs, my daughter asked him to put Reeva down. He was really crying. He was broken, he was screaming, crying, praying."
