Oscar Pistorius trial: Athlete recounts moment of killing
Pistorius was often jealous and overbearing in his relationship with Steenkamp
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-04-08 15:24 GMT
Pretoria: Oscar Pistorius described what he said were the moments before he shot Reeva Steenkamp to death and even removed his prosthetic legs in court and stood by the toilet door which he had fired into last year.
Pistorius testified Tuesday that he heard a window open in his bathroom in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, causing him to believe intruders had entered his house. He said "that's the moment when everything changed."
"I heard a noise from inside the toilet, what I perceived to be someone coming out of the toilet," he said tearfully. "Before I knew it I'd fired four shots at the door."
The double-amputee was asked by defense lawyer Barry Roux to stand by the toilet door through which he shot. In a dramatic moment, he took off his prosthetics and approached the door in court.
Pistorius said he and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp sometimes had troubles in their relationship but that they sorted them out, were in love and were planning a life together.
Prosecutors say Pistorius was often jealous and overbearing in his relationship with Steenkamp and killed her intentionally after a loud argument in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day last year. Pistorius claims he shot the 29-year-old model by mistake through a toilet door at his house, thinking she was a dangerous intruder.
Pistorius referred to a phone message Steenkamp sent him in late January 2013 when she said she was sometimes "scared" of the double-amputee Olympic athlete. The prosecution presented the message earlier in the trial as an indicator of Pistorius' threatening behavior.
Pistorius, 27, said on Tuesday that the couple had a disagreement at a social function that day and he was "maybe just being sensitive, insecure or jealous." Pistorius said he apologized to Steenkamp and sent her a message saying: "I want to talk to you. I want to sort this out. ... I'm sorry for the things that I say without thinking."
"My lady, I think it was a bad day in our relationship," Pistorius said, addressing the judge who will ultimately deliver a verdict in the trial that began last month.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux asked Pistorius if the unhappiness in their relationship had passed and Pistorius replied yes.
Pistorius was being led through questions by Roux, with the defense attempting to counter accusations that the runner was a reckless hothead with an obsessive love of firearms and prone to outbursts of anger.
Speaking softly, Pistorius mostly kept his composure, with his voice occasionally quivering with emotion when he spoke about the woman he killed by shooting three times in the head, arm and hip.
He also spoke of the first time he met Steenkamp, in November 2012, and his decision to ask her to join him at a sports awards event that evening on the spur of the moment. He denied he had cheated on a former girlfriend when he met Steenkamp, saying the previous relationship had ended.
Pistorius first took the witness stand on Monday, making a tearful apology to Steenkamp's family for killing her as Steenkamp's mother, June, sat in the courtroom, staring at him without expression.
Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.