South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of murdering model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013 after a court overturned an previous manslaughter verdict.
The sentencing hearing is still underway, and it is has been reported that by this Friday, a jury will decide if the six-time Paralympic gold medallist will receive a 15-year prison sentence.
Pistorius’ Health Manager at the prison, Charlotte Mashabani, took to the stand yesterday to reveal what the former Blade Runner’s behavior was like during the time she monitored him.
Via Mirror,
According to Ms Mashabani, the athlete was angry with her for walking into his cell and waking him.
She told the court: “He became angry. He just shouted that I’m disturbing him, that I must ‘get out, get out’, [because] he’s still sleeping.
“And then he covered himself with a sheet.
“I explained that there was no way we could bypass his cell because it is our responsibility that we must check on him.”
Ms Mashabani also claims Pistorius refused to take medication prescribed for him by the institution and demanded to see his own private doctor.
Pistorius, whose spent the majority of the trial with tears streaming down his face, stared into the abyss as Steenkamp’s father detailed how the death of his daughter has derailed his life.
BBC News correspondent Pumza Fihlani is present at the trial and described how Barry Steenkamp took to the stand, visibly broken, revealing the death of his daughter was the “greatest pain he’s ever known.”
Tears streamed down his face as he told the court how he thought of Reeva every day and that even after all this time it felt like it had all happened yesterday. He described jabbing himself with needles from his diabetes treatment to see if he could feel the same pain his daughter must have felt the night she died.
In the aftermath of her death, he had a stroke and now has heart problems, which is why he had not been able to testify during the original trial. But he said he felt compelled to speak now.
Eyes red from crying and trembling, he said that he and his wife had been changed forever and all they wanted was justice – being forgiven, did not exonerate someone from a crime. “He has to pay for what he did,” Mr Steenkamp repeated about four times.
Mr Steenkamp also told the court how the couple had been left in financial “dire straits” after their daughter’s death.
Their landlady had served them with an eviction notice two weeks afterwards – which was why they had initially accepted monthly payments of 6,500 rand ($425; £300) from Pistorius.
Pistorius cried during Barry’s entire time on the stand.
Really sad. Just really fucking sad. Thoughts and prayers go out to Barry Steenkamp and his wife. Hopefully a little justice will dim the pain of burying their child.