Carice Viljeon, who was one of the first witnesses to arrive at the murder scene on Valentine’s Day last year, said she saw him go up the stairs of the house he shared with Steenkamp in a distressed state and that she followed him fearing he would take his own life.
Viljeon said that she recalled that Pistorius, who went to fetch Steenkamp’s identity card, had earlier told a paramedic that the gun was upstairs. “I thought he was possibly going to shoot himself so I immediately ran up but I was scared to go any further,” she said as she wiped away tears.
Mrs Viljeon, who lived 200 metres from Pistorius’s home in a gated community in Pretoria, recounted how she was woken by her dogs barking before hearing someone screaming for help three times. She arrived at the scene shortly after with her father, Johan Stander, a former member of the community’s management committee.
She said that when she arrived she saw Pistorius walking down the stairs with Steenkamp’s body in his arms. He was weeping and saying that he had shot her because he thought she was an intruder before begging her to help him take her to hospital.
“I just saw blood everywhere,” she said. “I told him to put her down. We both knelt over Reeva. He begged me to help. He was begging and pleading with Reeva as well: ‘Just stay with me my love, stay with me’.”
In separate evidence, Johan Stander said he would never forget the sight of “a young man walking down the stairs with a young lady in his arms. The expression on his face…
“He was crying, praying, asking God to help him. He was torn apart, broken, desperate, pleading. It’s difficult to really describe.”
Oscar Pistorius in court.
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Oscar Pistorius in court.
Oscar Pistorius in court.
Mr Stander told the court he believed what happened was a “mistake” and that he had seen first-hand Pistorius’ “commitment to saving her life”.
“He put his fingers in her mouth. Begged God to save her,” he said. “I saw the truth there that morning. I saw it. And I feel it.”
State prosecutors allege Pistorius, also known as the Bladerunner because of his prosthetic legs and Olympic career, shot Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, four times through a locked bathroom door after a fight with his lover. Pistorius denies the charge saying he believed his girlfriend was an intruder.
For help or information, call Lifeline, 131 114, or visit beyondblue.org.au.
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