Oscar Pistorius' murder trial continues

Day 4 The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius entered its fourth day today in Pretoria, South Africa where he stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013. Four days in to the trial we have heard from two key witnesses, Michelle Burger and her her neighbour Charl Johnson. Michelle and Charl say they overheard screams and loud gun shots on the morning of the 14th. Both have said the screams were lady-like which Pistorius' defence lawyer has challenged, saying it could have been infact Oscar's screams for help.  Both have stood strong in the face of relentless questioning from one of South Africa's most acclaimed defence lawyers, Barry Roux. This case for me has always been a peculiar one. A heartbreaking one at that. A well-known sporting hero in South Africa shoots dead his model girlfriend. It is something featured in movies, not so much reality - yet it has happened and happened in such an extraordinary way it seems difficult to understand. We know Reeva arrived at Oscar's gated house on the afternoon of the 14th and was caught on security cameras smiling and talking to staff. This is where the story becomes known only to Reeva and Oscar. Dubbed as the 'trial of the century' Oscar's murder case is being broadcast for the world to see. Whether this is something I agree on or not, it does make for interesting watching. The defence team will argue that Oscar mistakenly shot his girlfriend Reeva believing her to be an intruder in his house. They argue that Oscar shot through the door of his bathroom 4 times and when realising Reeva was no longer in their bed, he used a cricket bat to break down the door. Upon realising he had shot Reeva he screamed for help. The prosecution team will argue that Reeva and Oscar were going through a rough patch in their relationship and on the night of the 14th had a heated argument resulting in Oscar Pistorius killing his girlfriend. The prosecution argue that Oscar did not shoot any warning shots - shots that might be expected if you believe an intruder to be behind the door. They will use key witnesses to prove that Reeva and Oscar had an argument that night and show Oscar’s ‘real’ personality. The witness box will include ex-girlfriends of Oscar who will reveal his ‘jealous’ side. Oscar Pistorius' house in Pretoria In my opinion and I say this because all views are my own – I find it odd that Oscar would be so paranoid in a house that offered maximum security. As a double amputee, he would not have bought a house where he felt unsafe. His house is in a gated community, manned by security guards. To even get to Oscar's house, an intruder must first cross this gated security and men. I am not saying this is not possible, but it seems fairly difficult. Secondly, two key witnesses have said on the night of the 14th they heard high pitched screams of a woman crying for help, believed to be Reeva. Now Oscar's defence team have argued that the screams could not have been Reevas, for the first shot believed to have hit Reeva in the head meant she sustained such bad brain damage, she would have been incapable of screaming, hence it was Oscar screaming for help. This to me is odd, because originally Oscar's defence team said Reeva was hit three times, first in the hip, then the leg and lastly the head which I believe would have allowed her to scream for help before the final third bullet.   The supposed gun shots Michelle Burger and her husband heard have been argued by the defence to actually be the noise of Oscar using a cricket bat to break down his bathroom door (after finally realising Reeva was not in the bed). Pistorius’ bathroom light was also on according to Johnson before the screaming began which contradicts Pistorius’ claim that there were no lights on in the house. What I also find peculiar is if Oscar believed he heard an intruder why did he not check where Reeva was. If he had simply turned to look at the other side of his bed, he would have seen Reeva was absent. Yet he did not do this, he immediately grabbed his gun from underneath his bed and carried on to the bathroom. Oscar has previously said it was too dark to see anything, yet he managed to find his gun easily enough. Apparently he yelled Reeva's name and heard nothing. Why would she not reply? Why would she ignore her boyfriend's anxious screams for her? There has been suggestions that Reeva and Oscar had been arguing that night backed up by a witness who overheard them. Perhaps she was not talking to him due to this argument but I find it extremely odd that she would not reply to such a heightened yell.   Oscar said he shouted for the intruder to come out and he had a gun. Now at this point, if Reeva was not talking to Oscar due to their previous argument, I think now would have been a good time to presume that talking. Surely she would not continue to sit in the bathroom ignoring Pistorius was outside with a gun?  Murder scene (SkyNews) It has been proved Oscar was on his stumps when he fired the four shots that killed Reeva. Now this could be because he was extremely frightened and thought the best thing to do was to grab the gun immediately. This shows an anxious man thinking on the spur of the moment, however could Oscar and Reeva have had an heated argument and this spurred Oscar to seek revenge? Reeva locked the bathroom door. Now I am not an expert (clearly) but I do find it a little strange as to why she locked the bathroom door. It was late; she was quickly going to the toilet, why would she lock the door? Perhaps this is normal in South Africa, however I believe you would only lock the door if you were trying to get away from something or someone or you wanted privacy. She had privacy as the toilet was segregated from the main bathroom and Oscar supposedly was in bed so why did she still feel the need to lock the door? Also why would an intruder lock themselves in the bathroom with no route of escape. It does not make sense. Blood splatter results will later show the position Reeva was in at the time of the shooting, whether she was on the toilet or behind the door hiding from Pistorius.  There are many questions that need answering. In particular, why did Oscar say he could not remember his iphone passcode? He still has not remembered the code and his phone has been sent off to be unlocked to see if Oscar sent any messages that night. These days we use our phones all the time, surely Oscar remembers his passcode?  Is there something he is hiding? Oscar writing notes in court This is a tricky case and over the next few days I hope some more elements will come to light but having watched it live the past few days I have to say Oscar’s defence team are doing an extremely good job in scrutinising the witnesses’ statements and evidence. Even if Oscar is found not guilty of murdering Reeva, he can still be charged with murder as he intentionally shot to kill whoever he believed to be behind that door. If this is what Oscar says it is; an awful and heart wrenching tragedy of mistaken identity then Oscar has to live with the fact he has killed a woman he loved for the rest of his life. It remains for the courts to decide what actually went on that night but in my opinion, there are too many uncertainties and questions as to why Oscar did not check where Reeva was and secondly why he shot through that bathroom door not knowing whether Reeva was behind it or not.