An emotional Oscar Pistorius headed back to court Monday for the continuation of his murder trial, taking the stand and apologizing to the parents of his slain girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Reports from the courtroom attribute Mr. Pistorius as saying: “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mrs. and Mr. Steenkamp,” NBC reported. “There hasn’t been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven’t thought about your family.”
He also maintained he wasn’t a murderer and that when he shot his model girlfriend, he was “trying to protect” her from what he thought was a home intruder.
Mr. Pistorius was visibly upset as the trial opened, sobbing and weeping, dropping his head to his hands and gagging, as more pictures from the graphic scene of the Valentine’s Day shooting were shown.
Several attending the trial on Monday gave a picture of the visibly shaken defendant — an amputee dubbed the “Blade Runner” who was once deemed a hero in the sports world for his Olympic wins.
“Pistorius sobs as Botha tells court ’death ensured fairly quickly after sustaining the head injury,” one Twitter poster wrote, NBC reported.
And another: “#OscarPistorius head in hands, retching. His family member wipes away tears.”
Another: “Pistorius leans forward and covers head as, once again, the court is shown an image of his blood-covered toilet.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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