Oscar Pistorius Says 'She Died In My Arms;' Reeva Steenkamp Murder Investigation (Court Video)
In the middle of a crowded courtroom in Pretoria, South Africa, Olympian Oscar Pistorius said on Tuesday that he shot his late girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by accident, thinking she was an intruder trying to rob his home.
However, the prosecutor called it a premeditated murder.
According to CBS News, the judge of the highly publicized case couldn't rule out the premeditated murder charges, which prompted Pistorius' lawyer to read out an affidavit at his bail hearing. In the affidavit, the double amputee said he felt vulnerable due to not having his prosthetic legs when he initially heard noises from inside the bathroom, which is when he shot bullets into the locked door.
In a sworn statement Pistorius went on to say that he later realized that Steenkamp wasn't in his bed.
"It filled me with horror and fear," he said.
The 26-year-old allegedly put on his prosthetic legs, attempted to kick down the door, then bash it with a cricket bat before finding the model shot. He said he then ran upstairs with her, but "She died in my arms."
Nonetheless, prosecutor Gerrie Nel charged the athlete with premeditated murder, saying that he took a reasonable amount of time to put his legs on and walk roughly seven yards from his bed to bathroom prior to firing the shots.
"She couldn't go anywhere. You can run nowhere. It must have been horrific," Nel said.
Pistorius cried as his lawyer Barry Roux countered that the shooting was an accident and there was no evidence to charge Pistorius with murder.
"Was it to kill her, or was it to get her out? We submit it is not even murder. There is no concession this is a murder," Roux argued.
Nel disagreed, arguing back that "The motive is 'I want to kill.' "
If Pistorius is convicted of the murder charge, he could end up spending the rest of his life behind bars.