In a written affidavit read Tuesday in court by his lawyer, Oscar Pistorius rejected the prosecution’s accusations of premeditated murder in the Valentine’s Day death of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius shot Steenkamp multiple times through a bathroom door in his Pretoria home.
"I fail to understand how I could be charged with murder, let alone premeditated. I had no intention to kill my girlfriend. ... We were deeply in love and I could not be happier. I know she felt the same way,” the 26-year-old said.
"I believed someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed,” he explained.
Pistorius said Steenkamp died in his arms. "I returned to the bathroom and picked Reeva up as I had been told not to wait for the paramedics, but to take her to the hospital. I carried her downstairs in order to take her to the hospital. On my way down ... a doctor who lives in the complex also arrived. Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms."
Prosecutors claim Pistorius purposely shot Steenkamp when she locked herself in the bathroom following a heated argument. They upgraded the charge against him to premeditated murder.
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