PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The Oscar Pistorius murder trial resumed today after a two-week recess, with the defense team calling its fourth witness in an attempt to bolster the doubleamputee athlete’s case that he killed his girlfriend by mistake last year.
The trial moved into its seventh week with testimony from Johan Stander, the first person Pistorius says he phoned after he shot Reeva Steenkamp at his home in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. Stander lived at the same gated community as Pistorius. Pistorius has said that Stander and his daughter were the first people to arrive on the scene after the shooting.
Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet stall door in his bathroom before dawn on Valentine’s Day last year. He claims he mistook his girlfriend for a dangerous intruder. The prosecution charges he killed her intentionally after an argument.
The 27-year-old Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the premeditated murder charge.
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