South African Judge Thokozile Masipa on Thursday, in the High Court in Pretoria said Oscar Pistorius “took a conscious decision to arm himself and shoot when he killed Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year.
Reading out her lengthy verdict, Judge Masipa, said the evidence for premeditated murder was ‘purely circumstantial’. “I am here talking about direct intention. The State has clearly not proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder.”
‘Oscar Pistorius was a poor witness’ Judge Thokozile Masipa read from her judgment;
“During his evidence-in-chief he seemed composed and logical. During cross-examination he lost his composure.”
She rejected Pistorius’s defence that this was because he was under emotional stress, traumatized, and medicated. “It was only under cross-examination that he contradicted himself and visibly felt uncomfortable,” she said, explaining herself.
She said the evidence that the killing of Reeva Steenkamp was premeditated was “purely circumstantial”. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
Pistorius is accused of murdering Steenkamp in his Pretoria townhouse on Valentine’s Day last year. He shot her through the locked door of his toilet, apparently thinking she was an intruder about to emerge and attack him. She was hit in the hip, arm, and head.
The paralympian also faces three charges of contravening the Firearms Control Act — one of illegal possession of ammunition and two of discharging a firearm in public.
He allegedly fired a shot from a Glock pistol under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant in January 2013. On September 30, 2012 he allegedly shot through the open sunroof of a car with his 9mm pistol while driving with friends in Modderfontein.
