South Africa Trial Of The Century: Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial

In what is being billed at “Trial of the Century” in South Africa, the Oscar Pistorius murder trial got underway today. Pistorius, also known as Blade Runner, for his track and field achievements as a double amputee runner, is defending his murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. Day one was filled with witness testimony from neighbor Michelle Burger. The prosecution is relying on Burger’s and other testimony to solidify their case and put Pistorius behind bars for the murder.

It is Pistorius’ defense that the murder was accidental on that fateful night in his South African home. Pistorius insists that he was under the impression that he was shooting at an intruder who was in the home and he shouted to Reeva Steenkamp, whom he thought was still in bed, to call the police. Today’s testimony by Ms. Burger would not help reflect that theory stating, “Just after 3, I woke up from a woman’s terrible screams,” she said. “Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help.”

In cross examination, defense attorney Barry Roux pressed the witness on her version of the timeline of events and asking if perhaps the banging, as she describes the gun shots, could have been the sound of a cricket bat hitting the bathroom door. Much of the focus has been on the ‘blood curdling screams’ as Michelle Burger describes. The defense insists that those screams were in fact those of a terrified Oscar Pistorius and not that of an injured Reeva Steenkamp. Last year, in the same courtroom in Pretoria, South Africa, Oscar Pistorius testified that he had approached the bathroom with firearm in hand and without his prosthetics. In his statement he also says that he was in a “fearful state” because he was unable to defend himself or run away being without his prosthetic legs.

The Oscar Pistorius murder trial is the first televised trial in South Africa. The trial also has an A List celebrity and is drawing stark comparisons to the OJ Simpson trial two decades earlier.

Earlier this year Pistorius settled an assault lawsuit with 24 year old Cassidy Taylor-Memmory out of court. Taylor-Memmory accused Pistorius of assaulting her at a 2009 house party also held at Pistorius’ home. The settlement now allows the law team defending Oscar Pistorius to focus on the Steenkamp murder case exclusively which is going to be the most reported in South Africa’s history.