Pistorius: I Spoke to Reeva After I Heard Intruder

He says he told her to call police, but didn't wait for reply
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 11, 2014 6:32 AM CDT
Pistorius: I Spoke to Reeva After I Heard Intruder
State prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, questions Oscar Pistorius in court in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, April 11, 2014.   (AP Photo/Craig Nieuwenhuizen, Pool)

Oscar Pistorius' cross-examination is in its third day, and the topic returned to the moments leading up to Reeva Steenkamp's shooting. Pistorius described waking and moving fans in the bedroom, and moving to put a pair of jeans over a light shining from an amplifier. That's when he heard the bathroom window "sliding" open and slamming, he said. He never heard Steenkamp get out of bed, but a window slamming is much louder, he added. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked, "Did you not say to Reeva, 'Reeva did you hear that?'" to which Pistorius responded, per the BBC, "I was sure there was somebody in my house," indicating he didn't need confirmation from Steenkamp. Instead, Pistorius grabbed his gun. "I told Reeva to get down and phone the police," but says he did not wait for a response.

Why did Steenkamp not speak from the bathroom? "I wish she had let me know she was there," Pistorius said through tears, per the Telegraph. Nel also noted Pistorius might've thought it strange that an intruder would climb into the bathroom, then close the door to the toilet; Pistorius previously said it was usually left open. And why was Pistorius so afraid when he had a burglar system? "I turned the alarm off," Pistorius said, according to the BBC, but later said he didn't remember doing it but "must have" as it was a habit to turn it on when he entered the bedroom and off when he left. Plus, he wasn't confident the alarm would work and there was no burglar proofing on windows. Nel, however, pointed out that Pistorius must not have been too concerned about his safety if he left cars outside and a broken window unfixed—though Pistorius said he was in the process of getting it repaired. (More Oscar Pistorius stories.)

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