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CNN Spotlight

CNN Spotlight: The Oscar Pistorius Trial

Aired April 11, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make way! Make way!

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST (voice-over): Making his way through the flashes of an international media gauntlet, Oscar Pistorius has gone from world-famous to infamous since the night he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a year ago, on Valentine's Day.

The disabled athlete who sprinted into the Olympics is now on trial for premeditated murder. Pistorius claims he mistook her for an intruder and then he shot her by accident. But prosecutors say he killed her in cold blood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plead?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plead?

OSCAR PISTORIUS, DEFENDANT: Not guilty, my lady.

CURNOW: CNN SPOTLIGHT: "The Oscar Pistorius Trial."

PISTORIUS: I would like to apologize and say that there's not a moment and there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family.

CURNOW: An apology to Reeva Steenkamp's family, the emotional beginning to Oscar Pistorius' long-awaited testimony.

PISTORIUS: I can't imagine the pain and sorrow and emptiness that I have caused you and your family.

CURNOW: Reeva's family sat stony-faced, seemingly unmoved by Pistorius' words.

PISTORIUS: I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise that when she went to bed that night, she felt loved.

CURNOW: For the first time in more than a year, the first time since he shot Reeva Steenkamp, Pistorius speaks in detail about that tragic night. He was heard, but not seen, deciding not to testify on camera. There's no jury. Just a judge will decide his fate.

PISTORIUS: We ate and we sat at the dining room table for a while. And we chatted about my day and we chatted about Reeva's contract that she was in the process of signing with the new management company. And then, usually after dinner, we would have watched TV downstairs, but I think we'd both had a taxing day, and so we decided to go upstairs.

CURNOW: Pistorius testified he proceeded to draw the curtains, darken his bedroom, and prepare for bed.

PISTORIUS: And I closed the bedroom door and I locked the bedroom door, as I do every night. I sat on the bottom right-hand side of the bed. I took my prosthetic legs off. I took them off, so that they could get air. Earlier on in the evening, when I got home, when I got upstairs, I had taken my firearm and I placed it under the bed.

CURNOW (on camera): Pistorius says that he had been a victim of burglaries, he even received death threats, that he was acutely aware of violent crime here in South Africa. He says that is why he slept with a .9-millimeter pistol under his bed.

(voice-over): On the stand, Pistorius said that he woke up in the early hours of the morning, that the air in the room was extremely warm. He noticed his balcony door was ajar, so he got out of bed and closed the door.

PISTORIUS: It was at this point that I heard a window open in the bathroom. It sounded like a -- the window sliding open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you think at the time, Mr. Pistorius?

PISTORIUS: My lady, that's the moment that everything changed. I thought there was a burglar that was gaining entry into my home. I think, initially, I just froze. I didn't really know what to do.

CURNOW: Pistorius claims he was on his stumps and unstable as he walked back to the bed, reached underneath and pulled the gun out of his holster.

PISTORIUS: At that point, I just wanted to put myself between the person who had gained access to my house and Reeva. Just as I got out of my bed, I whispered for Reeva to get down and phone the Look,.

CURNOW: Pistorius told the court he crept through a bedroom hallway.

PISTORIUS: It was at that point that I was just overcome with fear. And I started screaming and shouting for the burglar or the intruders to get out of my house. I shouted for Reeva to get on the floor. I shouted for her to phone the police.

CURNOW: He said he then made his way into the bathroom.

PISTORIUS: And then I heard a noise from inside the toilet that I perceived to be somebody coming out of the toilet. Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door.

CURNOW: According to Pistorius, he then returned to the bedroom, checked his bed and the floor, but there was no sign of Steenkamp. That's when he said he began to suspect the worst. PISTORIUS: I shouted from the balcony for help. I screamed help, help, help. I put my prosthetic legs on. I ran as fast as I could back to the bathroom. I ran in to the door. It didn't move at all. I leaned back and I tried to kick the door, and nothing happened.

CURNOW: Pistorius then testified that he grabbed his cricket bat.

PISTORIUS: I hit the frame of the door, and shock in my hands, so I swung again. And it hits a small piece opened. And at that point, all I wanted to do was just look inside to see if it was Reeva.

CURNOW: After hitting the door three more times, Pistorius said that he removed a plank of wood from the door the and locked it from the inside and gained access to a bloody Steenkamp.

PISTORIUS: I flung the door open, and I threw it open. And I sat over Reeva and I cried. And I don't know how long -- I don't know how long I was there for. She wasn't breathing.

CURNOW: Pistorius was so overcome with emotion, court ended early.

(CRYING)

CURNOW: Coming up: Prosecutors challenge Pistorius' story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could be ruthless and say that you lied, and now you are fixing up a lie.

CURNOW: But, next, the sexy cover girl and what turned out to be a fatal attraction.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Back in 2008, before there was Pistorius the Blade Runner --

PISTORIUS: Good morning.

CURNOW: -- it was Oscar, the Olympic hopeful. Just 21 years old, he invited me into the very house that five years later would become an infamous crime scene.

(on camera): Thank you.

PISTORIUS: Yes.

CURNOW: So, are you ready for the Olympics? Do you think you're going to make it?

PISTORIUS: I think if I am going to make it, run the course, we're training as hard as we can.

CURNOW (voice-over): Training hard to compete against able- bodied athletes as a sprinter with no legs.

(on camera): This is your prosthetic leg?

PISTORIUS: Yes. These are the ones that I use on an everyday basis.

CURNOW: OK. So, you walk, run, go to gym?

PISTORIUS: Yes. I'm actually -- I am supposed to walk on them, but you have got a very high-performance foot, so it's not that great for walking, but it's very good for running and jogging.

CURNOW: So this is still your -- this is your own leg.

PISTORIUS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

CURNOW: And this is where you had a birth deformity?

PISTORIUS: Yes.

CURNOW: How old were you when you got them amputated?

PISTORIUS: I was 11 months old.

CURNOW: Despite his vulnerability, his parents raised him to take on his life at full speed.

Pistorius found a purpose on the track. He met coach Ampie Louw, who transformed Oscar from an awkward 17-year-old schoolboy into a world- class athlete.

I talked to Louw on the track, where he spent countless hours training Pistorius.

AMPIE LOUW, TRAINER: Oscar is very strong-minded. He will even push harder than I want him to push in the last repetition of a session.

CURNOW: But Pistorius apparently had a dark side, say some. Mark Batchelor, a South African soccer player who socialized in the same circles, said Pistorius had a temper and once tried to pick a fight with him.

MARK BATCHELOR, SOCCER PLAYER: He would have a tough streak and he would get violent and angry. He would fight with people and he caused a lot of problems. And that's -- the incident with me and him was because he was drunk at a party and he starting shouting.

CURNOW: Louw admits that the athlete he sees as a son isn't perfect.

LOUW: I have been asked plenty times now the question of temper. If I said, yes, he must have, I call it temperament. If you haven't got the temperament, you cannot become a national champion or world champion. Forget it.

CURNOW (on camera): So you have got to have that fire in you? LOUW: You must have it. Yes.

CURNOW: And that fire could mean you sometimes have a bad temper?

LOUW: When you work with any champion, any -- any distraction upsets them.

CURNOW (voice-over): He qualified for the 2012 London Olympics, where he made it to the semifinals of the 400-meters. His relay team finished last in the finals.

Next, he would shine in the Paralympics, earning three medals, two gold, one silver.

He was South Africa's golden boy and was about to meet one of South Africa's top models, Reeva Steenkamp.

She known as one of South Africa's sexiest women. This video shows Reeva posing for the cover of a monthly magazine.

Hagen Engler was the editor of South African edition.

HAGEN ENGLER, EDITOR: She had, you know, beauty and intelligence, which is the double whammy.

REEVA STEENKAMP, MODEL: Hi, I'm Reeva. We're shooting this December cover for "FHM." (OFF-MIKE) Yes, have a good Christmas and buy the issue.

ENGLER: She got the magazine cover, and that gets you noticed and that gets you a bit more commercial work, probably leads to a bit of TV work.

CURNOW: Her life was becoming more and more glamorous, going from magazine cover girl --

STEENKAMP: My name is Reeva. And I'm a model.

CURNOW: -- to starring in a reality TV series.

STEENKAMP: And it's a really, really fun production. And it's in its fourth season now. And, yes, watch this space.

CURNOW: A mutual friend would introduced the cover girl to Pistorius at a motor racing event. There, Steenkamp accepted Pistorius' invitation to accompany him that evening to the South African Sports Awards ceremony.

ANGUS HAYES, REEVA STEENKAMP'S FRIEND: In her relationship with Oscar, the impression that I got from the messages that we exchanged from our few conversations was that she was very happy.

PEET VAN ZYL, AGENT OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: She was always very friendly, always very excited to be around him and with him. She spent a lot of time at the track jogging and running to keep in shape for her -- all her modeling stuff. CURNOW: Last year, Steenkamp was looking forward to spending Valentine's Day with Pistorius, tweeting, "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?"

South Africa's newest it couple appeared to be taking their relationship to the next level.

On the eve of Valentine's Day, a smiling Steenkamp drove through the security checkpoint at the entrance to the gated community where Oscar Pistorius lived. Less than 12 hours later, she was dead.

Next: more heart-wrenching testimony from Pistorius.

PISTORIUS: I had her head on my -- on my left shoulder, and I could -- I could feel the blood was running down on me.

CURNOW: Then: The prosecution goes on the attack.

GERRIE NEL, PROSECUTOR: Say, yes, I killed -- I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CURNOW (voice-over): After a little more than a year out on bail, Pistorius arrived back to a courthouse amidst media frenzy as his murder trial began.

There was even a drone equipped with cameras hovering above the crowds of spectators, all trying to catch a glimpse of the Blade Runner as he made his way in to court.

Pistorius is charged with murder and three gun charges. At the start of day one, the defense read a statement from Pistorius backing his plea.

KEN OLDWADGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: "At the time of the tragic accident which led to Reeva's death, we were in a loving relationship. Whilst I admit that I inflicted the fatal gunshot wounds to Reeva, this occurrence was indeed an accident."

CURNOW: Defense advocate Ken Oldwadge also laid out the defense's case, not only claiming Oscar believed he was shooting an intruder instead of Steenkamp, but denying claims that there had been friction in their relationship. He also asserted the police investigation was sloppy.

OLDWAGE: It will also be demonstrated that the scene was contaminated, disturbed and tampered with.

CURNOW: The prosecution started its case with a series of ear witnesses, all neighbors of Pistorius. Deciding not to appear on camera, they testified to hearing screams emanating from Pistorius' home.

MICHELLE BURGER, NEIGHBOR: The fear in that woman's voice is difficult to explain to the court. I was traumatized to what I heard that evening, the absolute petrified screams and shouts.

CURNOW: The defense argued it was likely Pistorius, not Steenkamp, whom the neighbors heard screaming for help.

BARRY ROUX, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: All I say is, when he is anxious, his voice, when it pitches, it sounds like a woman's scream.

CURNOW: Pistorius' ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, later testified to the contrary.

SAMANTHA TAYLOR, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: That is not true. He sounds like a man.

CURNOW: She also said that night wasn't the first time Pistorius had feared an intruder had entered his home.

TAYLOR: There was one occasion where something hit the bathroom window, and Oscar woke me up and asked me if I had heard it. And so he got up with his gun and he walked out of the room.

CURNOW: That night with Reeva would be different. Oscar fired his gun and neighbor Michelle Burger said she heard the fateful gunshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you perhaps give us a demonstration by using bang.

BURGER: Bang, bang, bang, bang.

CURNOW: On day four of the trial, next-door neighbor and physician Johan Stipp took the stand. Stipp was one of the first to arrive at the Pistorius home that night.

JOHAN STIPP, NEIGHBOR OF PISTORIUS: I remember the first thing he said when I got there was that: "I shot her. I thought she was a burglar, and I shot her."

CURNOW: Stipp testified that while he tended to Steenkamp's lifeless body, Pistorius was distraught and repentant.

STIPP: He was crying. He was praying. He was talking to God, telling God to please let her live. Please don't let her die. He was making promises to God. He was trying to, I don't know, maybe get atonement, but was very, very distraught, severely so.

CURNOW: Stipp's account left Pistorius visibly distressed, perhaps even convulsing, according to one courtroom observer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had prepared the report.

CURNOW: The prosecution then turned to its forensic experts and evidence, first up, police Colonel J.G. Vermeulen and Pistorius' bullet-holed toilet door. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were hitting from where you were standing, just hit.

CURNOW: Trying to chip away at Pistorius' turn of events, the prosecution attacks his claim that he wore his prosthetics when using a cricket bat to get to the wounded Reeva.

COL. J.G. VERMEULEN, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE: My observation is that Mr. Pistorius was not on his legs. He was on his stumps.

CURNOW: Pistorius' blood-covered stumps, the bathroom floor and other photos were displayed in court as part of the prosecution's detailed forensic testimony. At one point, the accidental display of Steenkamp's dead body caused Pistorius to become ill. He sat with a bucket at his feet, in case he vomited.

COL. IAN VAN DER NEST, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE: The deceased sustained wounds while being on the toilet. Three of these wounds which the deceased sustained could have resulted in severe bleeding.

CURNOW: Then a dramatic turn in the trial. Prosecutors presented text messages from Reeva to Oscar, depicting a stormy relationship.

VERMEULEN: "I just want to love and be loved, be happy and make someone so happy. Maybe you can't do that for -- maybe we can't do that for each other, because right now I know you aren't happy and I'm certainly very unhappy and sad."

CURNOW: Another message was even more chilling.

VERMEULEN: "I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and of how you will act to me."

CURNOW: The defense countered by reading just some of 1,700 messages that they said were loving and affectionate.

ROUX: And the response by Reeva to Mr. Pistorius is: "OK, angel, sweetness of dreams. I will message you when I get home, cross, cross, cross."

CURNOW: And showed a video of the happy couple in a convenience store 10 days before Steenkamp was killed.

After 15 days and 21 witnesses, the prosecution rested. Immediately, anticipation began to build because one of the defense's first witnesses would be Oscar Pistorius.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, my lady. I call Mr. Pistorius.

CURNOW: Pistorius gave his account of events, testifying that he shot his girlfriend after mistaking her for a burglar.

PISTORIUS: I checked to see if she was breathing, and she wasn't. And I put my arms underneath her shoulders, and I pulled her weight on to me, and I sat there crying for -- for some time.

I had her head on my -- on my left shoulder, and I could -- I could feel the blood was running down on me.

CURNOW: Pistorius said he picked up Steenkamp, carried her down the stairs, then sat with her.

PISTORIUS: I felt helpless. I wanted to take her to the hospital. I was -- I had my fingers in her mouth to help her to try to breathe. I had my hand on her hip. I was trying to stop the bleeding.

CURNOW: Paramedics were on the way, but there would be nothing they could do for Steenkamp.

PISTORIUS: Reeva -- Reeva had already died as I was holding her, before the ambulance arrived, so I knew that there was nothing that they could do for her.

CURNOW: After the defense wrapped its defense examination, the prosecutor went on the attack.

PISTORIUS: My mistake is that I took Reeva's life.

NEL: You killed her. You shot and killed her. Won't you take responsible for that?

PISTORIUS: I did, my lady.

NEL: Then say it. Say, yes, I killed -- I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.

PISTORIUS: I did, my lady.

CURNOW: Prosecutor Gerrie Nel then played video of Pistorius at a shooting range, pointing out Oscar's apparent delight at the damage inflicted by his high-powered weapon.

PISTORIUS: It's a lot soften than brain, but (EXPLETIVE DELETED) feels like a zombie stopper.

NEL: It exploded.

PISTORIUS: That's correct, my lady.

NEL: You know that the same happened to Reeva's head. It exploded.

CURNOW: The prosecutor, living up to his reputation of being a pit bull, goaded and hammered Pistorius.

NEL: Mr. Pistorius, this is now the biggest indication of you tailoring evidence.

CURNOW: Gerrie Nel was relentless in his effort to poke holes in Pistorius' story.

NEL: Mr. Pistorius, you are now in the room. You shot, and she is three meters away from you behind that particular door. There is no way that you will convince a court that she stood there saying that. Why? Why would she not say a thing? PISTORIUS: I don't know, my lady.

NEL: No, it's not true. The only reason is that it is not true, Mr. Pistorius. She would have responded.

PISTORIUS: She would have been terrified, my lady, but I don't think that would have lent her to scream out.

NEL: She wasn't scared of anything, except you. She wasn't scared of an intruder. She was scared of you.

CURNOW: As week five of the murder trial ended, Pistorius had yet to conclude his time on the stand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shall resume on Monday at 9:30.

CURNOW: Whether Oscar Pistorius will ever run another race, what his future holds will be determined in court.

If convicted, he's facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

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