Oscar Pistorius returned to the stand Thursday for further cross-examination following a day of persistent and aggressive questioning.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel opened day two of his cross-examination by scrutinizing message exchanges between Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp.
Downloaded texts reveal that, at times, Steenkamp feared the Olympian's short temper and jealous nature.
"I'm scared of u sometimes and how u snap at me," Steenkamp texted Pistorius in a message read to the Pretoria High Court by police captain Francis Moller on March 25.
Nel said messages between the couple also showed the Paralympian's tendency to criticize Steenkamp and "disregard her feelings." However,Pistorius insisted he did not mistreat his girlfriend.
"Reeva was never scared of me," the double-amputee testified.
"We did a search," Nel told the court. "Apart from 'boo boo, baa, baa' you never wrote a long message to Reeva ... because it was all about Mr. Pistorius."
Nel then pressed the Olympian for his account of events leading up to the moment he shot Steenkamp.Pistorius testified that he did not hear his girlfriend get out of bed on the night of the shooting.
"My back was facing the room," the double-amputee told the court. "It was pitch black."
The prosecution aimed to disrupt the Olympic sprinter's version events that took place on Valentine's Day of 2013.
"I remember pulling the trigger and the rounds going into the door," Pistorius recounted. "I did not fire deliberately."
Nel also asked the Paralympian about a shooting incident at a Johannesburgrestaurant in January of 2013. Pistorius insists he did not purposefully discharge his firearm, but that the gun went off while he was "trying to make it safe."
The prosecution criticized the double-amputee's claims regarding the restaurant shooting incident as well as an ammunition charge Pistorius faces in light of contents found in the Olympian's safe the night he shot Steenkamp.
Nel told the court that it appears Pistorius does not "want to take responsibility" for his actions.
The defense is expected to call 14 to 17 witnesses after Pistorius’ testimony concludes.The trial is expected to last into May before Judge Thokozile Masipa makes a decision.
On March 3, Pistorius pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder and a firearms charge associated with Steenkamp's killing.If convicted, Pistorius faces 25 years in jail.
Written byNicole Bennett
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