Reeva Steenkamp trial: Neighbor recalls Olympian's reaction after shooting

Reeva Steenkamp murder: A neighbor testified in court Monday about Oscar Pistorius's state of mind after he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a year ago Valentine's Day.

|
Themba Hadebe/AP
Oscar Pistorius, center, leaves as people take photos using their mobile phones after the court adjourned for the day in Pretoria, South Africa, Monday, May 5, 2014.

A neighbor and friend of Oscar Pistorius testified Monday at his murder trial that the athlete was "torn apart" and desperately trying to save girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp minutes after fatally shooting her at his home last year.

Neighbor Johan Stander said he received a panicked phone call from Pistorius at around 3:19 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2013 — about two minutes after the shooting. Pistorius told him he had thought Steenkamp was an intruder and shot her, Stander testified, and Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen went to Pistorius' house after the double-amputee runner pleaded with him to come and help.

"I saw the truth there that morning. I saw it and I feel it," Stander testified, saying he believed that the shooting was accidental because of Pistorius' emotional state when they found him carrying a bloodied Steenkamp down the stairs at his villa. Pistorius was "really crying. He was in pain," Stander said.

"He was asking God to help him. He was torn apart, broken, desperate, pleading," Stander said. His own voice shook at one point and he became emotional on the witness stand. "It's difficult really to describe."

Stander and his daughter were the fourth and fifth witnesses called by the defense as it attempted to recover from a shaky start and Pistorius' own testimony, which was unconvincing in places under a fierce cross-examination by chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel. The pair testified as the trial moved into its seventh week after a two-week recess.

The defense was trying to reinforce its assertion that Pistorius killed Steenkamp in a tragic error of judgment. Pistorius, 27, says he mistook his 29-year-old girlfriend for an intruder and shot her through a closed toilet door, and then tried to save her life.

Prosecutors maintain Pistorius is lying about the perceived intruder and his story is designed to cover up that he killed the model intentionally in the midst of a heated nighttime argument. A multiple Paralympic champion and the first amputee to run at the Olympics, Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on a premeditated murder charge. He slumped forward at one point Monday with his head in his hands as details of what may have been Steenkamp's last moments alive were discussed.

Cross-examining Stander, Nel questioned if he was a good friend of Pistorius and therefore trying to "assist" the defense. Stander said he had known Pistorius since 2009 and looked after his home and dogs when the athlete was away competing. Nel asked if the friendship led him to back Pistorius' story. Stander said he also knew Steenkamp.

"I'm here to give the truth," Stander said. "And I think I've given the truth, what I saw that morning."

Stander had earlier recounted the telephone call from Pistorius.

"He said on the call, 'Johan, please, please, please come to my house. Please. I shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please come quick,'" Stander said.

Nel's manner in cross-examining both Stander and Viljoen was relatively subdued in contrast to his aggressive questioning during his five-day cross-examination of Pistorius, and of two expert witnesses for the defense. The prosecution has focused on events before the killing — and not Pistorius' demeanor afterward — to try and show his intruder story is a fabrication, including that he never attempted to locate his girlfriend despite knowing she was awake before walking to the bathroom on his stumps and firing four times through the door with a 9 mm pistol. Steenkamp was hit in the hip, arm and head.

Monday's proceedings ended early because Roux said he expected the two witnesses to take up the entire day, and there were no other defense witnesses at the courthouse.

Viljoen testified that Pistorius begged her to help him get Steenkamp into a car so they could take her to a hospital. Viljoen said she urged Pistorius to "just put her down" so they could try and stop the bleeding. As Viljoen spoke, her voice broke and she became tearful. She took a sip of water, wiped her eyes and proceeded.

While her father stepped outside to telephone an ambulance, Viljoen said, she went upstairs to fetch towels to stop the bleeding. Pistorius was pleading for Steenkamp to stay alive, she testified.

Viljoen said Pistorius was saying to Steenkamp: "'Stay with me, my love, stay with me.'"

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Reeva Steenkamp trial: Neighbor recalls Olympian's reaction after shooting
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0505/Reeva-Steenkamp-trial-Neighbor-recalls-Olympian-s-reaction-after-shooting
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe