Judge tells Oscar Pistorius to maintain composure as he weeps while statement on mistaking Reeva Steenkamp with burglar in bathroom is read
Famed 'Blade Runner' claims he shot an intruder in the early morning hours of the night while he thought his 'love' Steenkamp was in bed. Prosecutors claim even if it was a burglar, the killing was premeditated.
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius — who made history by running as a double-amputee — awaits the start of his bail hearing Tuesday in South Africa. He later tearfully professed his innocence, saying he fired his weapon to kill an intruder, not his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Man up, Oscar.
A blubbering Oscar Pistorius was scolded by a South African judge Tuesday after the fallen Olympian tearfully admitted killing his model girlfriend — but insisted it was an accident.
“Please maintain your composure,” Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair told a weeping Pistorius. “You need to apply your mind here. You need to get your composure right. You need to concentrate on what is going down.”
In a quivering voice, Pistorius answered, “Yes, my lordship.”
Those were the only words Pistorius spoke during a dramatic bond hearing in which he gave his first account of the Valentine’s Day shooting that left 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp dead and stripped the “Blade Runner” of the hero mantle he had worn since becoming the first double amputee to race at the Olympics.
Pistorius, in a statement that was read by his lawyer, said he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar and that he wasn’t wearing his prosthetic legs when he pumped four shots through the locked door of the bathroom while she was inside.
“(I) felt extremely vulnerable,” he said. “I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself. I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger. I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I had limited mobility on my stumps.”
But when he realized Steenkamp was not in his bed, “It filled me with horror,” he said in the statement.
PHOTOS: OSCAR PISTORIUS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF REEVA STEENKAMP
It was then, Pistorius said, that he put on his legs and bashed in the
door with a cricket bat. Then he rang security in his gated community
for help.
A blubbering Oscar Pistorius was scolded by a South African judge Tuesday after the fallen Olympian tearfully admitted killing his model girlfriend — but insisted it was an accident.
“Please maintain your composure,” Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair told a weeping Pistorius. “You need to apply your mind here. You need to get your composure right. You need to concentrate on what is going down.”
In a quivering voice, Pistorius answered, “Yes, my lordship.”
Those were the only words Pistorius spoke during a dramatic bond hearing in which he gave his first account of the Valentine’s Day shooting that left 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp dead and stripped the “Blade Runner” of the hero mantle he had worn since becoming the first double amputee to race at the Olympics.
Pistorius, in a statement that was read by his lawyer, said he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar and that he wasn’t wearing his prosthetic legs when he pumped four shots through the locked door of the bathroom while she was inside.
“(I) felt extremely vulnerable,” he said. “I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself. I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger. I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I had limited mobility on my stumps.”
But when he realized Steenkamp was not in his bed, “It filled me with horror,” he said in the statement.
PHOTOS: OSCAR PISTORIUS CHARGED WITH MURDER OF REEVA STEENKAMP
