Oscar affidavit: I did not plan to kill

A group of women who support murder accused Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius have been ruffling feathers on Twitter. File picture: Sizwe Ndingane

A group of women who support murder accused Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius have been ruffling feathers on Twitter. File picture: Sizwe Ndingane

Published Feb 19, 2013

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Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius denied murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on the morning of Valentine's Day, in an affidavit read out to the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

"I deny the allegation in the strongest terms. Nothing can be further from the truth," said the affidavit read by Pistorius's lawyer advocate Barry Roux.

Pistorius had been teary the whole morning, but when the affidavit, marked "Exhibit A" was produced during his bail application, he began sobbing, his body shaking.

His brother Carl held his back and placed his hand over his head, passing him an energy drink as Roux read that Steenkamp had given Pistorius a Valentine's Day present and he "couldn't have been happier".

"She gave me a present for Valentine's and told me to open it the next day," the affidavit said.

On the eve of Valentine's Day, February 13, Steenkamp would have gone out with her friends, and he with his, the court heard.

They decided to have a quiet dinner.

Magistrate Desmond Nair had to pause proceedings briefly as Pistorius wept saying to him: "Just maintain your composure. Apply your mind."

He warned the media not to take photographs.

Pistorius said in his affidavit, he and Steenkamp got into bed and they fell asleep.

"I have received death threats before," the affidavit continued.

He kept a 9mm firearm under his bed.

Pistorius, a double amputee, who runs on carbon fibre blades, said he had mobility on stumps, and could walk on them.

He said intruders were in the toilet. He heard a noise and was "filled with horror and fear".

He heard someone in the bathroom saying, "it was pitch dark in the bathroom".

"As I didn't have my prosthetic legs on I was vulnerable," the affidavit continued.

"I fired a shot at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to call the police," he said.

"I felt extremely vulnerable as I didn't have my prosthetic legs on and knew I had to protect myself and Reeva," the affidavit continued.

"When I reached the bed, I realised Reeva wasn't in the bed."

He said he tried to open the bathroom door, but it was locked, and went to the balcony to scream for help.

He put "on" his legs, and broke the door open with a cricket bat, got a key and opened it.

"Reeva was slumped over but alive."

He carried her downstairs to take her to hospital and a doctor in the complex arrived.

"She died in my arms."

The bail hearing was postponed until Wednesday- Sapa

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