Two defence witnesses who were the first to arrive at Oscar Pistorius’s home after he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp have described how distraught the athlete was.
Pistorius is accused of killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, and if found guilty could face life in prison .
Former Silver Woods Estate manager Johan Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen described how the athlete sobbed hysterically and prayed for Reeva’s life.
Carice Stander-Viljoen and her father, former estate manager Johan Stander who live just 212 metres away from Pistorius’s home – were the first people on the scene.
“As I was about to close my sliding door, I heard a person shouting help help help, and I froze in my bed,” says Viljoen Stander.
They both described how they walked into the paralympian’s home and found him carrying Steenkamp’s lifeless body down the stairs.
“As I open the door I walked in, the first thing I saw was Oscar carrying Reeva down the stairs. From the second we walked in he was frantic. He just said we [must] take her to the hospital. I just saw blood everywhere, he said call the ambulance. He just kept on begging me please can we take her to the hospital,” says Viljoen Stander.
“You could see an expression of pain. He was crying. He was asking God to help him. He was torn apart, broken, desperate and pleading for help. It’s difficult really to describe and his commitment to save the lady’s life. How he begged her to stay with him, I saw the truth that morning, and I feel it,” says Stander.
But then Stander told court he believed that Pistorius mistakenly killed Steenkamp.
“When he phoned me he said I made a mistake,” adds Stander.
However, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel was quick to point it out to Stander that why he did not mentioned that in his statement.
“No Mr Stander you can’t say that. Why do you want to add things now?
Why would you make such a statement do you want to assist Mr Pistoruis,” asks Nel.
It is the final leg of Pistorius’s murder trial and the defence’s last opportunity to prove that the athlete did not intend to kill Steenkamp
The court is yet to hear how Pistorius screams like a woman when in distress.
Ballistic expert Wollie Wolmarans is also expected to give his version of how Steenkamp was shot.
Pistorius continues to receive support as he returns to court.
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