Pistorius Neighbor Testifies to Hearing 'Blood-Curdling' Screams on Night of Shooting
Oscar Pistorius is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day last year. A neighbor kicked off the trial with her testimony that she hear "blood-curdling" screams coming from the Pistorius residence, but the defense maintained that the screams were those of Pistorius and not Steenkamp.
"I woke up from a woman's terrible screams," Michelle Burger testified in court. "I sat upright in bed. My husband also woke up from the screams. You could hear it was blood-curdling screams. You can't translate it into words. The anxiousness in her voice and fear. It leaves you cold."
Burger lived 850 feet from Pistorius at the time of the murder. She testified that she heard one gunshot followed by a pause and another three rapid shots. However, the defense attorney, Barry Roux, suggested that what Burger actually heard was Pistorius trying to break down the bathroom door with his cricket bat.
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Roux also suggested that the screams came from Pistorius, who he said "sounds like a woman" when he screams.
"I did not hear crying and I did not hear the cricket bat," Burger said during cross-examination. "I can only testify on what I've heard. The fear in that woman's voice is difficult to explain. Her shouts, her screams were petrified … I knew something horrible was happening in that house. It was blood-curdling."
Pistorius pleaded not guilty to Steenkamp's murder and said that he thought she was a burglar. He was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the time and fired shots through the locked bathroom door in order to protect himself. When he realized that the victim was Steenkamp, he tried to break down the door with his cricket bat.
Steenkamp was hit with three bullets and died instantly. Pistorius maintains that he cared deeply for Steenkamp and never meant to hurt her.
"The loss of Reeva and the complete trauma of that day, I will carry with me for the rest of my life," he said in a statement released on the one-year anniversary of her death.
