Pistorius Murder Trial:Neighbour Testifies

A WOMAN living next to accused murderer Oscar Pistorius has told his murder trial how she was woken by a woman screaming and the sound of gunshots on the morning of Reeva Steenkamp’s death.
Witness Annette Stipp told the court in Pretoria 10 and 10.30pm on the night of the shooting, Valentine’s Day 2013.
She woke up at 3.02am with a fright and heard three sounds “like gunshots”
She and her husband heard a woman screaming so they went outside to have a look, she said.
Ms Stipp said she and her husband thought it was a “family murder” and they were concerned there were children involved.
Ms Stipp told the court she also heard a male screaming.
They called security and heard what she thought was three more shots at 3.17am.
The couple eventually got throught to security and told them what was happening.
The murder trial of Pistorius - now in its fourth week - has been extended and will now continue until April 4, then break for a recess before resuming from April 14 until May 16.
The court said “all parties involved” had agreed to the dates.
Pistorius, 27, claims he shot 29-year-old Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, through a locked toilet door in his upmarket home after mistaking her for an intruder.
But the state has charged him with premeditated murder, arguing that he fired at Steenkamp in a fit of rage during an argument.
The court is expected to hear from a mobile phone analyst to see what calls and messages were sent or received to Pistorius and Reeva’s phones.
Since the trial opened, witnesses have testified to hearing a woman’s terrified screams in the dead of night, followed by gunshots.
A police ballistics expert said last Thursday the first shot from Pistorius’s 9-millimetre pistol shattered Steenkamp’s hip bone. She then fell over and was struck in the head by another bullet.
Following the prosecutors, the Pistorius defence team will then make its case.
Delays at the trial have also come from the defence effort, with testimony by witnesses for the prosecution picked apart in marathon hearings in an effort to raise doubts on the accusations against Pistorius.
The defence has so far succeeded in pointing out several police blunders at the crime scene, including an officer handling the suspected murder weapon without gloves and another stealing a luxury watch from the house.
A verdict is not expected until several weeks after the end of testimony and closing arguments.