Pretoria: South African double-amputee Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius went on trial Monday, accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a law graduate and model.
As his lawyers launched an aggressive defence on day one of the trial, tearing into a witness who claimed to have heard "bloodcurdling screams" as his girlfriend was killed, three questions could be key to the trial:
- Did the couple argue on the night of the shooting?
In his affidavit, Pistorius claimed the couple spent a quiet night at home. They ate dinner then Pistorius watched television while Steenkamp did yoga, before both fell asleep.
The prosecution is expected to challenge that account, calling on the testimony of neighbours who claim to have heard shouts and screams coming from the couple's house.
The couple's mobile phone records could also offer evidence of a fight. Steenkamp is said to have had her phone with her in the toilet when she was shot. Did she contact friends?
Authorities have been trying to get access to Pistorius's iPhone. He claims to have given them the correct password, but it did not work. Does it contain evidence of a fight in the form of text messages, or as one local paper recently reported, evidence that Pistorius was looking at porn on the night of her death.
If the couple did in fact argue early that Valentine's Day it would contradict Pistorius's account of what he calls "a tragic accident" and provide the prosecution with a motive for premeditated murder.
- Did the police irreparably taint the crime scene?
In the bail hearing, then lead detective Hilton Botha admitted he had entered Pistorius's home and investigated the scene without the correct protective footwear, lost track of ammunition at the scene and made several false assumptions.
In a case where there is only one surviving witness -- the accused -- forensic and material evidence is expected to be key. The treatment of the crime scene may throw the reliability of that evidence into doubt.
Already the prosecution looks set to concede that Pistorius was further away from the door when he shot than they first argued and that he was not in fact wearing his prostheses.
Both arguments were initially put forward as evidence that Pistorius was not in fact scared and his actions were premeditated.
- Why did Pistorius not call the police?
In his affidavit, the sporting hero known as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre running blades, says he called two numbers after realising he shot Steenkamp: Johan Stander, who was involved in the administration of the gated community where he lived and private medical service Netcare.
The prosecution is expected to probe his relationship with Stander and why Pistorius allegedly dismissed security guards who rang his house after hearing gun shots, telling them everything was fine.
The prosecution could attempt to prove Pistorius killed Steenkamp in a rage and then attempted to cover up evidence.
According to AP correspondents who were present in a jam-packed courtroom, Pistorius appeared in the courtroom with his brother Carl, sister Aimee and a handful other relatives on Monday morning.
Pistorius pleaded not guilty on Monday as soon as his trial opened with a neighbour's account, the first witness. Michelle Burger, the university economist said, that she heard terrible screams coming from Pistorious home on the night of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's death.
At around 3 am (0100 GMT) on Valentine's Day last year, Burger told the court in Pretoria that she awoke to hear a woman's voice.
"She screamed terribly and she yelled for help," the university economist said. "It was something you can't explain to someone else, how anxious those screams were. Just after her screams, I heard shots, four shots," she said, describing one clear shot then three clustered together. "Bang... bang, bang, bang."
"I heard petrified screaming before the gunshots, and just after the gunshots," she said when pressed by Pistorius's lawyer.
Advocate Barry Roux challenged Burger over potential inconsistencies, asking in particular why she heard four gunshots but her husband, who is yet to testify, reported hearing five or six.
Earlier, the family of Pistorius sat down in the front bench left of the courtroom, across the aisle from the Steenkamps. The families did not interact with each other. After a few minutes, his dead girlfriend Reeva Steencamp's 'adoptive' Johannesburg family the Myers were also there. Lawyers for both sides, Barry Roux for the defence and Gerrie Nel for the prosecution, were accompanying their clients.
The "Blade Runner" stepped into court barely 18 months after hurtling across the finishing line in record time to win gold at the London Paralympics, securing the adoration of millions and his place in sporting history. He was the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics and the Paralympics, winning medals at the Athens, Beijing and London games.
His fate now depends on a crack team of lawyers, forensics, ballistics and other experts who face South African state prosecutors still reeling from a protracted and humiliating bail hearing. After few minutes Reeva Steenkamp's mother June Steenkamp, wearing black, arrived in the court room, with handful of other people and sat in row of the public gallery. However she kept her expression neutral except for a slight frown.
According to Pistorius's account of events, on the night of February 13, 2013 the couple had a "quiet dinner together" at his home on 286 Bushwillow Street, in the tightly secured Silverlakes estate near Pretoria.
"She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television. My prosthetic legs were off. We were deeply in love and I could not be happier," Pistorius said in a bail affidavit.
In the "early morning hours" Pistorius woke up and went on to the balcony to fetch a fan and close the blinds.
"I heard a noise in the bathroom and realised that someone was in the bathroom. I felt a sense of terror rushing over me," Pistorius recalled.
Believing Steenkamp was in bed, Pistorius grabbed his 9mm pistol from under his bed and headed for the toilet. He "fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police."
Soon after he realised Steenkamp was not in bed, he rushed back to the bathroom and used a cricket bat to break open the toilet door, only to find her "slumped over but alive."
The application further added, "I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms."
Meanwhile the prosecution is expected to argue this account is a fabrication designed to conceal Pistorius' guilt, while pointing to a history of reckless behaviour with firearms.
The state is likely to argue that Pistorius on two occasions fired a pistol in public, once through the sunroof of a moving car and months later at a busy restaurant in Johannesburg.
In past he is also accused of possessing unlicensed ammunition. Above all they will try to show that regardless of who was behind the toilet door, Pistorius acted recklessly.
As the media waits outside the courtroom for the defendant himself to arrive, it is worth noting that for some the trial is not just about Pistorius, but also about South Africa's legal system.
Last week Judge Dunstan Mlambo said the "system is still perceived as treating the rich and famous with kid gloves whilst being harsh on the poor and vulnerable."
The trial he hoped would dispel these "unfounded perceptions." This is the first time that Pistorius has come face-to-face with his girlfriend's mother, who just looked on. Pistorius is looking healthy and sporting a tan. Over Christmas he went on vacation to Mozambique.
Parts of the trial was broadcasted on live television, both in South Africa and across the world. The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.
