Oscar Pistorius has denied that his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was standing behind a door talking to him when he shot and killed her, during a floundering performance under cross-examination in his trial in Pretoria.
In a rare intervention that is likely to worry the defence, at one point the judge, Thokozile Masipa, asked Mr Pistorius why he was making mistakes on the stand.
The prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, gradually zeroed in on the critical moment when the athlete crept into his bathroom with a 9mm pistol and shot four times. Forensic experts have testified that Ms Steenkamp was probably standing behind the locked toilet cubicle door when she was hit by the first bullet, then fell backwards.
Mr Pistorius has said he opened fire because he thought intruders had broken into his bathroom, and that he thought Ms Steenkamp was in bed.
'Most improbable'
Mr Pistorius asserted that when he entered the bathroom he shouted to Ms Steenkamp to call the police, so Mr Nel demanded to know why she did not respond, describing it as the "most improbable" part of his story.
He said: “At that stage when you shouted at Reeva to phone the police, she was three metres away from you in the toilet, but she didn’t say anything. Why would she not say anything?” Mr Pistorius said he did not know.
Mr Nel went on: “She’s awake. She’s in the toilet. You’re shouting. You’re screaming. You’re three metres from her. She would have responded. She would not have been quiet, Mr Pistorius.
“There is no way you can convince this court that she stood there, saying nothing. Why would she do that? She would have responded.”
Mr Pistorius replied that Ms Steenkamp had been through a burglary before, locked herself away and not spoken to anyone for a day.
Mr Nel alleged that the couple had an argument and Ms Steenkamp fled to the toilet pursued by Mr Pistorius. “She wasn’t scared of an intruder. She was scared of you. She was scared of you,” he said. “She was standing right in front of the toilet door, talking to you, when you shot her. That’s the only reasonable explanation why you shot her in the head.”
He added: “You never perceived anybody coming out. In fact you knew that Reeva was behind the door and you shot at her. That is the only thing that makes sense. You shot at her knowing she was behind the door.” Mr Pistorius replied: “That’s not true.”
Neighbours of Mr Pistorius have testified that they heard a woman scream on the night of the killings. Mr Nel asked him if she screamed. Mr Pistorius said to the judge: “No, my lady.” – (Copyright Guardian News & Media 2014 )