Pistorius breaks down on the stand as he describes ‘moment that everything changed’

Gerald Imray

PRETORIA // Oscar Pistorius broke down in sobs and howls while testifying at his murder trial on Tuesday, forcing the court to adjourn as the star athlete was describing the moments he said he first realised he had shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home last year.

Pistorius has said he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder in his bathroom. Tuesday marked the first time he has spoken publicly on the details of the shooting. Prosecutors call Pistorius’ story an intricate lie and maintain he intentionally killed his girlfriend, a model and reality TV show star, after an argument.

“I sat over Reeva and I cried,” Pistorius said, telling how he broke open the stall door in his bathroom to discover his mortally wounded girlfriend inside and slumped over in the cubicle. “I don’t know how long I was there for,” Pistorius said.

On the witness box, he began to cry loudly, forcing the judge to rule a brief adjournment. Pistorius did not stand up when the judge left, and also started to wail as he sat slumped over on the witness box, his head in his hands. His brother and sister went over to him in an attempt to comfort him and he left the courtroom through a side door, still crying.

When Judge Thokozile Masipa returned, she called an early adjournment. Pistorius had by that time appeared to compose himself and had returned to sit, jaw clenched, in the witness box.

Pistorius was testifying about how he broke down the toilet door after shooting four times through it, and finding a gravely injured Steenkamp inside.

“At that point all I wanted to do was just look inside to see if it was Reeva,” Pistorius said, his voice shaking and starting to cry before breaking down in the sobs.

The Olympian is charged with premeditated murder in Steenkamp’s death and faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years before parole if convicted on that charge.

Earlier, Pistorius said that the sound of a bathroom window opening had convinced him that someone was breaking into his house.

“That’s the moment that everything changed,” Pistorius said.

* Associated Press