"You made a mistake? You shot and killed her. Say it -- 'I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp,'" prosecutor Gerrie Nel told Oscar Pistorius as he began a blistering cross-examination of the Olympic sprinter in his murder trial Wednesday.Nel vowed to "get to the truth" as he questioned Pistorius about the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day last year.The prosecutor immediately boxed the double-amputee athlete into a corner in what his defense team described as an "ambush," by asking him about a video showing Pistorius shooting a watermelon at a gun range.No one disputes that Pistorius killed Steenkamp. But the prosecution is trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so knowingly and intentionally -- that it was murder.Pistorius, 27, has admitted to the killing but said he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder in the bathroom when he fired through the door and killed her.Before Nel went after Pistorius, Barry Roux -- the runner's defense lawyer -- had tossed his client a question to drive that argument home. He asked Pistorius if he had intentionally killed Steenkamp."I did not intend to kill Reeva or anybody else for that matter," Pistorius replied.'Zombie stopper'Nel took the defense team by surprise when he asked the athlete about the shooting range video in which Pistorius is seen firing a shot described in court as "a zombie-stopper."This prompted the defense to complain that the prosecution was staging an "ambush" by introducing evidence. The court was briefly adjourned as Judge Thokozile Masipa considered both positions, later allowing the video to be shown in court.
Post a Comment