- .Paralympian denies premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp last year
- .Neighbour tells the court she was woken at 3am by a woman screaming
- .Michell Burger said: 'Just after her screams, I heard four gunshots'
- .Prosecutors say Pistorius intentionally shot Miss Steenkamp after a row
- .But statement read out by his lawyers says they did not argue that night
- .Amputee claims he accidentally killed her after mistaking her for a burglar
- Trial will be shown on 24-hour cable channel devoted to the court case
The first witness to give evidence in Oscar Pistorius's murder trial told how she heard 'blood-curdling' screams from a woman followed by four gunshots on the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed.
Michell Burger, who lives on a neighbouring estate, took to the stand just after the Paralympian pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year.
Speaking in Afrikaans through an interpreter, Ms Burger told how she and her husband had been woken at around 3am that morning by a woman screaming and shouting for help.
'I was still sitting in the bed and I heard her screams. She screamed terribly and she yelled for help,' she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Face to face for the first time: Oscar Pistorius takes his seat in the courtroom for the start of his murder trial as Reeva Steenkamp's mother (second right) looks on
Defence: The court was read a statement from the Paralympian in which he denied prosecution claims that he and Miss Steenkamp had argued before he shot her
Tense: Pistorius took his seat, wearing a dark suit and black tie, without looking in June Steenkamp's direction
'Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help. Just after her screams, I heard four shots. Four gunshots ... "Bang ...bang, bang, bang"
'It was very traumatic for me. You could hear that it was bloodcurdling screams.'
Asked to describe the successive shots, she said there was a pause between the first and second which was longer between the second and third shots and the third and fourth.
Ms Burger, who lives in the Silver Stream Estate, a neighbouring estate to Pistorius's Silverwoods Estate, said: 'I told my husband that I do not hope that that woman saw her husband being shot in front of her because after he screamed for help we didn't hear him again.'
The court heard she had assumed it was a house break-in that had happened.
Under cross-examination from Barry Roux, she told the court: 'I could not understand how I could clearly hear a woman scream, but Mr Pistorius couldn't hear that. I couldn't understand that.
The amputee takes a drink of water as he waits for the start of the trial which was delayed by nearly two hours
Denies charge: Pistorius speaks to his lawyer Barry Roux before formally pleading not guilty to murder
'I agree that I heard four gunshots and that I heard a man screaming for help three times,' she said, describing the screams as 'fear-stricken' and 'petrified'.
She added: 'I couldn't understand why Mr Pistorius didn't hear the screams of the woman and if he didn't hear the screams of the woman that's a question that needs to be asked to Mr Pistorius.'
Ms Burger told the court that, while she had clearly heard four gunshots, her husband had heard 'four, five or six' shots.
She said the evening was confusing but also 'distressing', telling the court: 'The events of that evening was extremely traumatic for me. The fear in that woman's voice is difficult to explain to the court.'
She said she was traumatised by what she had heard: 'It was a very emotional situation to have to hear.
'The absolute petrified screams and shouts, it was not just another evening, it was extremely emotional.'
Challenging her version of events, Mr Roux suggested that Pistorius 'may sound like a woman' when he screams and intends to call a witness to that effect.
Emotional: June Steenkamp (left) shows the strain of her very first encounter with Pistorius as she waits for the start of his trial. She says she will be ready to forgive him whatever verdict is handed down
Looking for closure: June Steenkamp (left) says she wants to 'see for myself the truth about what he did'
Loyal support: Relatives of Oscar Pistorius wait inside the high court prior to the start of his trial
At one point, the witness offered to speak in English as she said some of her words were not being translated correctly from Afrikaans to English by the intepreter.
Earlier, Pistorius formally pleaded not guilty to murdering Miss Steenkamp after walking past the victim's mother who said she wanted to 'really look him in the eyes' for the very first time.
The double amputee responded 'not guilty, my lady' after a state prosecutor read out a charge that he 'unlawfully and intentionally did kill' his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year.
The court was then read a statement from the Paralympian in which he claimed he had mistakenly thought there was an intruder in his home, leading him to open fire in an attempt to protect himself.
The statement, read by his defence lawyer while the athlete remained standing, said the scene had been contaminated and disturbed.
In it, the Paralympian said he did not intend to kill his then girlfriend that night and they had not argued that night.
He said: 'I deny this allegation in the strongest terms because there was no argument. The allegation that I wanted to shoot (or kill) Reeva cannot be further from the truth.'
Accused: Oscar Pistorius arrives for the start of his murder trial in Pretoria over the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp who he shot at his home on Valentine's Day last year
'I want to look him in the eyes': Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, arrives at the court to face Oscar Pistorius for the first time since he shot her daughter at his home on Valentine's Day last year
Reading out the statement, defence lawyer Kenny Oldwadge said Pistorius said he brought two fans in from the balcony on the night of the killing after speaking to his girlfriend who was in bed beside him.
He said Miss Steenkamp must have gone into the bathroom while he was fetching the fans. He said he did not notice she had gone and heard the bathroom window open.
'I approached the bathroom, armed with my firearm, so as to defend Reeva and I,' Pistorius said in the statement.
He said he then heard a noise in the toilet and was in a 'fearful state' because he was unable to run away or defend himself physically since he was not wearing his prosthetic legs.
'The state has embarked on a strategy to rely on unsubstantiated allegations,' he said, citing a neighbour's evidence that an argument had been heard in his home.
According to Pistorius's statement, other neighbours living nearby said they had not heard any argument.
Anxious: Oscar Pistorius's brother Carl arrives at the Pretoria court ahead of the murder trial
He also cited evidence provided by police detective Hilton Botha as 'false in material respects'.
'The scene was contaminated, disturbed and tampered with,' the defence statement said.
'This feature of the state's case will be dealt with when Botha, among others, gives evidence.'
The highly-anticipated trial of the six-times sprint champion finally got under way an hour and a half late at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Opening the prosecution case, Gerrie Nel told the court: 'They were the only two people in the house. There were no eyewitnesses. The state's case is based on circumstantial evidence.'
He said evidence included what neighbours had heard and prosecutors would argue that 'a certain inference' could be drawn from the scene.
'We argue that the accused's version in the bail application and today could not reasonably possibly be true, should be rejected,' he said, adding: 'The only inference from the circumstantial evidence would be that the accused shot and killed the deceased.'
The Paralympian's sister Aimee Pistorius (left) talks outside the courtroom before the hearing
Pistorius has also denied two charges relating to the discharge of firearms in a public place and one charge of the illegal possession of ammunition in the packed courtroom in Pretoria.
Before the trial started, he walked past Miss Steenkamp's mother, June, who said she wanted to 'really look into his eyes' during the trial. He did not look in her direction as he took his seat.
She was seated on the bench directly behind the Paralympian so there is a possibility that their eyes will lock during the trial.
His family, including his brother Carl, sister Aimee and uncle Arnold are also seated nearby.
At the start of proceedings, Pistorius was asked by judge Thokozile Masipa if he understood the charge of murdering Ms Steenkamp, to which he replied: 'I do, I do, my lady.'
Asked how he pleaded, he said: 'Not guilty, my lady.'
June Steenkamp had arrived at court ahead of the double amputee, dressed in black and looking sombre.
She was quoted by the Mail on Sunday over the weekend saying that she wanted to see Pistorius as he walked into the courtroom.
Emotional: People stand around a newspaper poster quoting Miss Steenkamp's mother June who said: 'I want to look into Oscar's eyes' when she attends the trial
'I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva,' said June Steenkamp, 67.
'Whatever the court decides at the end of his trial, I will be ready to forgive him ... But first I want to force him to look at me, Reeva's mother, and see the pain and anguish he has inflicted on me. I feel I need that.'
Under grey, drizzly skies, journalists, lawyers and security officials arrived at the Pretoria courthouse in preparation for the trial.
Several broadcasters massed live broadcast satellite trucks around the courthouse.
The intense public interest in the Pistorius trial is shown by the launching Sunday night of a 24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the court case.
The start of the trial marks the start of a dramatic new chapter in the life of the double-amputee athlete who ran at the Olympics and became a global star before he shot his girlfriend to death.
Prosecutors charged the 27-year-old Pistorius with the premeditated murder of Miss Steenkamp.
They say they will seek a life sentence if Pistorius is convicted, the sternest punishment available in South Africa. South Africa no longer has the death penalty.
If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must serve if given a life sentence in South Africa.
High stakes: If convicted of murder, Pistorius could be jailed for at least 25 years before the chance of parole
107 WITNESSES LINED UP FOR TRIAL
Prosecutors have named 107 witnesses they can call during the trial. They include:
- Twenty people — neighbors, security guards and other workers — who are connected to the gated estate where Pistorius lived
- Ten criminal experts including forensic and ballistics specialists and criminal psychologists
- Pistorius's uncle Arnold, brother Carl and sister Aimee are witnesses for the state
- Johan Stander, a manager at his gated estate, who was named by Pistorius as the first person he called to get an ambulance after shooting Miss Steenkamp
- Twenty people — neighbors, security guards and other workers — who are connected to the gated estate where Pistorius lived
- Ten criminal experts including forensic and ballistics specialists and criminal psychologists
- Pistorius's uncle Arnold, brother Carl and sister Aimee are witnesses for the state
- Johan Stander, a manager at his gated estate, who was named by Pistorius as the first person he called to get an ambulance after shooting Miss Steenkamp
He would be older than 50 before he could be released.
The state says Pistorius intentionally killed Steenkamp at his home in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day last year by shooting her through a toilet door after an argument.
Pistorius denies murder and says he killed his girlfriend by mistake when he fired four times through the door thinking there was a dangerous nighttime intruder on the other side.
A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of murder but without premeditation.
He also could be convicted of culpable homicide, South Africa's version of manslaughter in which someone is killed through negligence.
Pistorius claims he was acting in self-defense against what he believed at the time was a threat to his life.
As well as murder, Pistorius faces a second charge of illegal possession of ammunition for bullets found at his Pretoria house that he allegedly didn't have proper licensing for.
Prosecutors say he also will be indicted Monday with two more gun charges relating to him allegedly shooting in public on two separate occasions before Steenkamp's killing.
The serving of an updated indictment to Pistorius in court is expected to be the first move at the trial at Pretoria's high court.
He has not yet been formally served with the papers that include all four charges against him, although his lawyers have had the papers and details of the additional gun charges since last year, prosecutors say.
The gun charges reportedly relate to him allegedly shooting out the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake.
Accused: Pistorius claims he accidentally shot Miss Steenkamp (pictured) after mistaking her for a burglar
Those incidents happened in the court jurisdiction of the city of Johannesburg, not where Steenkamp was killed in Pretoria, and prosecutors applied to have the two charges included and heard at his murder trial.
Female judge Thokozile Masipa will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury.
Parts of the trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the world, and hundreds of reporters are expected to descend on North Gauteng High Court in the South African capital for the start of the trial.
The 24-hour cable channel devoted solely to the trial will continue until the case is finished.
The trial will deal with the bloody killing of a 29-year-old model and law graduate, but also the issue of gun ownership and South Africa's problem of violent crime, which Pistorius says was the reason why he kept his licensed 9 mm handgun under his bed.
Pistorius says his fear of crime was why he fired four shots through the door, hitting Steenkamp three times - in the head, elbow and hip.
Prosecutors maintain he was simply angry with her after an argument.
Members of Pistorius' family will likely attend the trial, as they did on his previous court hearings. His uncle, Arnold Pistorius, sister Aimee and brother Carl are all also listed as state witnesses.
'We love Oscar, and believe in him, and will be standing by him throughout the coming trial,' Arnold Pistorius said in a statement over the weekend.
Steenkamp's mother confirmed that she and other family members said will also be in the courtroom. The Steenkamps did not attend any of Pistorius' previous court appearances.
'All we are looking for is closure and to know that our daughter did not suffer on that tragic Valentine's Day,' said Steenkamp's parents said in a statement last month, days before the one-year anniversary of the shooting that stunned South Africa.
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