Pastor testifies for Pistorius ahead of murder sentence

The father of Reeva Steenkamp has told a South African court that her fatal shooting by boyfriend Oscar Pistorius has “devastated” his family, and that he thinks about her constantly.

In other testimony on Tuesday, prison nurse Charlotte Mashabane said she felt “threatened” by Mr. Pistorius when he banged on her desk and shook angrily as he complained about his medical treatment in prison.

The 73-year-old said he had “changed completely” since his daughter’s death on Valentine’s Day in 2013, when Pistorius fired four times through a locked toilet door.

Pistorius, who competed in the 400 metres at the London 2012 Olympic Games, was originally convicted on a charge of culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter – but this was appealed and upgraded to murder by the Supreme Court of Appeal in December. Asked to describe the events of the night of the killing, Steenkamp said he “thought there was an argument”, before being gently stopped by the leading prosecution lawyer, Gerrie Nel.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to run through Friday.

He had been convicted in September 2014 of culpable homicide, South Africa’s term for a reckless but unintentional killing, and sentenced to five years in prison and served a year in the hospital wing of Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. And the defence has begun – by claiming Pistorius has major depression.

Pistorius tried to greet Steenkamp’s relatives as he entered the court today but they did not respond.

Pistorius and Steenkamp had been dating at the time of her death. Addressing him directly, he said that the “time would come”.

Mr Steenkamp said that people had told him it would get better after a few years, but that “every day of [his] life is the same”.

He also said that Pistorius had been assaulted once in jail but Mr Nel also rejected this, saying no report of such an incident existed in the register.

Prosecutors had depicted Pistorius, one of the world’s most celebrated athletes at his height, as an arrogant figure with a sense of entitlement and a love of guns. “You didn’t do your job in any case”.

“He’s actually quite violent”, she said. He then returned to a bench where he sat alone, head bowed, and wiped away tears.

The second character witness called was Pastor Marius Nel.

At the hearing, Reeva Steenkamp’s father also said the world should see the photos of the wounds that killed his daughter.

This request was also dismissed in March this year leaving Pistorius with no chance of escaping his murder conviction.

“He becomes upset when he hears gunfire, even on TV”. The psychologist said he would recommend hospitalization if Pistorius were a regular patient.

Dr Jonathan Scholtz spent the day detailing Pistorius’ mental state. “He did”, Nel said.