They said the number of times he had changed his story during the trial was evidence that he had concocted “a snowball of lies” in a crude attempt to avoid conviction for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, a double-amputee Olympic sprinter known as the ‘Blade Runner’, has consistently denied the charges during a trial that has dragged on through six months of testimony in which he has at various times sat weeping and even vomiting as the grim details of Reeva Steenkamp’s death were presented to the court.
Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp.
Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel, known as the “bull terrier” in South African legal circles, told the court that Pistorius “had dropped the baton of truth” as his legal team floated several theories about what might have happened the night the athlete shot former model Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in the home they shared in Pretoria.
Defence lawyers argued that Pistorius fired in self-defence, fearing an intruder. Mr Nel said they also raised the possibility that he was not criminally responsible and accidentally shot because he was ‘startled.’ “It’s two defences that you can never reconcile,” Mr Nel said.
The prosecution pursued the idea that Pistorius shot Steenkamp shortly before dawn on Valentine’s Day last year after a fierce argument saying that he knew Steenkamp was in the bathroom when he fired his weapon.
Nel said that even if the court accepted that Pistorius didn’t know it was Steenkamp in the toilet then he should still be convicted of pre-meditated murder as he had “made up his mind” to seek out his shotgun from under their shared bed and “calmly” fired twice through the door knowing there was a human being on the other side.
“That, my lady, is pre-planning,” said Nel, directing his conclusion to Judge Thokozile Masipa.
Nel said that it was “improbable” that Pistorius rushed with his gun to investigate a purported sound in the bathroom without first trying to talk to Miss Steenkamp, who was supposed to be sleeping next to him, or to confirm that she was safe.
Throughout Mr Nel’s summation, Pistorius sat calmly taking notes in stark contrast to his emotional reactions in the dock during earlier evidence. He faces 25 year to life if he is convicted on pre-meditated murder.
Also in court for the first time during the trial was Barry Steenkamp, Reeva’s father, who sat with his wife June, and Pistorius’ estranged father Henke.
Pistorius’ defence team, led by lawyer Barrie Roux, will complete its summation later today.
