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CNN SPOTLIGHT

CNN SPOTLIGHT: The Oscar Pistorius Trial

Aired March 7, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Oscar Pistorius, the disabled athlete who sprinted into the Olympics, center stage in a South African courtroom charged with murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, a stunning up-and-coming model.

We speak to those who were there that fateful Valentine's night.

And you could hear also crying?

AMPIE LOUW, TRAINER: Yes.

CURNOW: Loudly?

LOUW: Yes. Yes. Because I know him, you can hear this. This is terrible.

CURNOW (voice-over): We hear from those who saw Oscar away from the track.

MARK BATCHELOR, SOCCER PLAYER: He would get violent and angry. He would fight with people.

CURNOW: And we take you into the courtroom.

MICHELLE BURGER, NEIGHBOR OF PISTORIUS: I was traumatized to what I heard that evening, the absolute petrified screams and shouts.

CURNOW: And then:

BURGER: Bang, bang, bang, bang.

CURNOW: "CNN SPOTLIGHT: The Oscar Pistorius Trial."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make way! Make way!

CURNOW: Making his way through the flashes of an international media gauntlet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make way! Make way!

CURNOW: Oscar Pistorius has gone from world famous to infamous, since the night he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp a year ago on Valentine's Day. Now on trial for premeditated murder, Pistorius claims he mistook her for an intruder and that he shot her by accident, but the prosecutors say he killed her in cold blood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plead?

OSCAR PISTORIUS, DEFENDANT: Not guilty, my lady.

CURNOW: Back in 2008, before there was Pistorius the Blade Runner...

PISTORIUS: Good morning.

CURNOW: ... it was Oscar, the Olympic hopeful. Just 21 years old, he invited me into the very house that five years later would become an infamous crime scene.

(on camera): Thank you.

O. PISTORIUS: Yes.

CURNOW: So, are you ready for the Olympics? Do you think you're going to make it?

O. PISTORIUS: I think if I am going to make it, run the course, we're training as hard as we can.

CURNOW (voice-over): Training hard to compete against able- bodied athletes as a sprinter with no legs.

(on camera): This is your prosthetic leg?

O. PISTORIUS: Yes. These are the ones that I use on an everyday basis.

CURNOW: OK. So, you walk, run, go to gym?

O. PISTORIUS: Yes. I'm actually -- I am supposed to walk on them, but you have got a very high-performance foot, so it's not that great for walking, but it's very good for running and jogging.

CURNOW: So this is still your -- this is your own leg.

O. PISTORIUS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

CURNOW: And this is where you had a birth deformity?

O. PISTORIUS: Yes.

CURNOW: How old were you when you got them amputated?

O. PISTORIUS: I was 11 months old.

CURNOW (voice-over): In an exclusive interview before the London Olympics...

(on camera): That's when he was younger?

GERTIE PISTORIUS, GRANDMOTHER OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: Yes.

CURNOW: ... I visited Pistorius grandmother at her home in Pretoria, where she spoke in her native language, Afrikaans.

G. PISTORIUS: The moment you saw him, it broke your heart.

CURNOW: His first pair of prosthetics came when he was only 13 months old.

G. PISTORIUS: I will never forget the first time he got toes on his prosthetics. They came back from Johannesburg through the big gate and he says, gran, gran. His feet are sticking out the window. He said, look, I have got toes. Isn't that wonderful?

CURNOW: But despite his vulnerability, his parents raised him to take on his life at full speed.

Pistorius found a purpose on the track. He met coach Ampie Louw, who transformed Oscar from an awkward 17-year-old schoolboy into a world-class athlete.

I talked to Louw on the track, where he spent countless hours training Pistorius.

LOUW: Oscar is very strong-minded. He will even push harder than I want him to push in the last repetition of a session.

CURNOW: Pistorius took his training seriously.

(on camera): So you must be drinking a lot, but you don't drink alcohol.

O. PISTORIUS: Yes, and I think the last time I drank was probably about two months ago. I think if you're going to be an elite sportsman, you kind of have to watch how many times you like relax and socialize with your friends.

CURNOW (voice-over): But Pistorius apparently had a dark side, say some. Mark Batchelor, a South African soccer player who socialized in the same circles, said Pistorius had a temper and once tried to pick a fight with him.

BATCHELOR: He would have a tough streak and he would get violent and angry. He would fight with people and he caused a lot of problems. And that's -- the incident with me and him was because he was drunk at a party and he starting shouting.

CURNOW: Louw admits that the athlete he sees as a son isn't perfect.

LOUW: I have been asked plenty times now the question of temper. If I said, yes, he must have, I call it temperament. If you haven't got the temperament, you cannot become a national champion or world champion. Forget it.

CURNOW (on camera): So you have got to have that fire in you?

LOUW: You must have it. Yes.

CURNOW: And that fire could mean you sometimes have a bad temper?

LOUW: When you work with any champion, any -- any distraction upsets them.

CURNOW: Is Oscar reckless? Does he have a bad temper?

PEET VAN ZYL, AGENT OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: If you're a top sportsman and you're focused and sometimes things happen that agitate you and you're going to lose your temper and you're going to have words with people, and I can testify to the fact that I was witness on a couple of occasions where he did lose his temper.

But he was always also the first one to apologize for his behavior. So, that's part of the makeup of the man.

CURNOW (voice-over): He qualified for the 2012 London Olympics, where he made it to the semifinals of the 400-meters. His relay team finished last in the finals.

Next, he would shine in the Paralympics, earning three medals, two gold, one silver.

He was South Africa's golden boy and was about to meet one of South Africa's top models, Reeva Steenkamp.

CURNOW (voice-over): Next, the sexy cover girl and what turned out to be a fatal attraction.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Reeva Steenkamp was becoming known as one of South Africa's sexiest women. This video shows Reeva posing for the cover of a monthly magazine.

Hagen Engler was the editor of South African edition.

HAGEN ENGLER, EDITOR: She had, you know, beauty and intelligence, which is the double whammy.

REEVA STEENKAMP, MODEL: Hi, I'm Reeva. We're shooting this December cover for "FHM." (OFF-MIKE) Yes, have a good Christmas and buy the issue.

ENGLER: She got the magazine cover, and that gets you noticed and that gets you a bit more commercial work, probably leads to a bit of TV work.

CURNOW: She was becoming the next big thing. But to family and friends, she was the same old Reeva.

CNN's Drew Griffin talked with Reeva's uncle Mike Steenkamp and cousin Kim Martin.

KIM MARTIN, COUSIN OF REEVA STEENKAMP: When you were with her, you were like -- you felt like you were a teenager, because she was just so vibrant, so full of life, so bouncy. She was just always laughing, joking, fun.

And the media side of her career, we never really saw that. And we knew that she was -- you know, she was a model and she was doing things with the media. But she never brought that into the family.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: So she doesn't sound like she enamored with the glamour life.

MIKE STEENKAMP, UNCLE OF REEVA STEENKAMP: No, no, no.

MARTIN: No, not at all.

CURNOW: Her life was becoming more and more glamorous, going from magazine cover girl...

R. STEENKAMP: My name is Reeva. And I'm a model.

CURNOW: ... to starring in a reality TV series.

R. STEENKAMP: And it's a really, really fun production. And it's in its fourth season now. And, yes, watch this space.

CURNOW: A mutual friend would introduced the cover girl to Pistorius at a motor racing event. There, Steenkamp accepted Pistorius' invitation to accompany him that evening to the South African Sports Awards ceremony.

Reeva had entered life in the fast lane, quite literally.

M. STEENKAMP: One day, she was with Oscar in the car traveling along the highway. And she phoned her mom and said to her mom, mom, Oscar is speeding.

So, June took the phone and said, let me speak to Oscar, and said to him, Oscar, hey, listen, that's my precious and my only daughter. And that's everything. That's my angel. And you better slow down.

And Reeva said afterwards, mom, he slowed down.

CURNOW: The second week of February, 2013, Oscar Pistorius was making plans for his annual training trip to Italy. But this year was different. He wanted to bring along Reeva Steenkamp.

VAN ZYL: We were looking at the schedule and planning opportunities where she can come and visit. And my reaction was "You've never asked me for stuff like this. Are you -- are you serious about this girl?"

And his reaction was, "Yes, I am. I am very serious about this girl."

ANGUS HAYES, REEVA STEENKAMP'S FRIEND: In her relationship with Oscar, the impression that I got from the messages that we exchanged from our few conversations was that she was very happy.

VAN ZYL: She was always very friendly, always very excited to be around him and with him. She spent a lot of time at the track jogging and running to keep in shape for her -- all her modeling stuff.

CURNOW: Last year, Steenkamp was looking forward to spending Valentine's Day with Pistorius, tweeting, "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?"

South Africa's newest it couple appeared to be taking their relationship to the next level.

On the eve of Valentine's Day, a smiling Steenkamp drove through the security checkpoint at the entrance to the gated community where Oscar Pistorius lived. Less than 12 hours later, she was dead.

In a courtroom, no cameras allowed, Oscar's version of what happened next was presented in his affidavit.

(on camera): It's in this document that Pistorius lays out the events that started on the evening of February 13.

NARRATOR: "We were content to have a quiet dinner together at home. She had given me a present for Valentine's Day, but asked me only to open it the next day."

CURNOW (voice-over): We had another voice read the affidavit.

NARRATOR: "During the early morning hours of 14 February, 2013, I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in, and closed the sliding doors, the blinds and the curtains. Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on, I have mobility on my stumps."

CURNOW: Pistorius said he heard a noise in the bathroom. He realized there were no burglar bars on the windows, and contractors had left a stepladder outside.

NARRATOR: "I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. I grabbed my .9-millimeter pistol from underneath my bed."

CURNOW (on camera): Pistorius says that he'd been a victim of burglaries and even received death threats, that he was acutely aware of violent crime here in South Africa. He says that's why he slept with a .9-millimeter pistol under his bed.

(voice-over): Pistorius claims he screamed for the intruders to get out, and then yelled for Reeva to call the police. NARRATOR: "It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet. As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself."

CURNOW (on camera): Because he said in his affidavit that he was scared, that he felt vulnerable that night, and many nights he did, you got a sense that he was a scared person.

VAN ZYL: For sure, he's a scared person.

CURNOW (voice-over): Coming up: bullets fired and a tragic death.

VAN ZYL: A totally shattered and broken man, like I have never seen him before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW (voice-over): Early morning, a tragedy at the home of Oscar Pistorius. He thought there was an intruder in the bathroom, according to his affidavit.

NARRATOR: "I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond. When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed."

CURNOW: That's when Pistorius says it dawned on him that it could have been his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on the toilet.

NARRATOR: "I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom, and tried to kick the toilet door open. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door."

CURNOW: When he finally got the door open, Pistorius said he saw Reeva slumped over, but alive.

NARRATOR: "I carried her downstairs in order to take her to the hospital. She died in my arms."

CURNOW: In the dead of night, coach Ampie Louw's phone rang. It was Peet Van Zyl, Oscar's agent.

LOUW: That night, I forgot to put the phone off. And it rang roughly about in the region of between 4:00 and 5:00. And I saw it was Peet, so I thought, "Whoa, this is funny." And I answered the phone and said, "Yes."

And he said to me, "Get in your car. Pistorius. There's problems at the house."

CURNOW: By the time Van Zyl and Louw arrived, police were already on the scene.

VAN ZYL: When we arrived, it was already flooded with police. And everything was falling off and couldn't have had access to Oscar at all.

LOUW: I was in just after Peet, but in shock, because when I arrived at the house, and you see all of the police cars and lights. I was standing outside. Oscar was inside. I could hear him crying in the garage. And Reeva was at the entrance. I just saw the bottom piece and the legs. It was -- the police was in and out the door. It's the front door.

CURNOW (on camera): And you could hear Oscar crying?

LOUW: Yes.

CURNOW: Loudly?

LOUW: Yes. I know him. You can hear this. This is terrible.

CURNOW (voice-over): Police then took Oscar into custody.

VAN ZYL: I got to see him late that afternoon of the 14th at the Boschkop police house.

CURNOW (on camera): And what was he like? What kind of state was he in?

VAN ZYL: A totally shattered and broken man. Like I have never seen him before. Never seen him like that before.

CURNOW (voice-over): At his bail hearing, a judge voiced skepticism about Pistorius' version of what happened.

DESMOND NAIR, JUDGE: I had difficulty appreciating why it was difficult to ascertain the whereabouts of this person when he got off the porch.

I have difficulty also coming to terms with the fact that the accused did not seek to verify who exactly was in the toilet when he could have asked.

CURNOW (on camera): Now, when the bail hearing's dramatic five days were over, the magistrate made his judgment.

NAIR: I have come to the conclusion that the accused has made a case to be released on bail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

CURNOW (voice-over): After a little more than a year out on bail, Pistorius arrived back to a courthouse amidst a media frenzy, as his murder trial began.

There was even a drone equipped with cameras hovering above the crowds of spectators, all trying to catch a glimpse of the Blade Runner as he made his way into court. Pistorius is charged with murder and three gun charges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you understand the charges, Mr. Pistorius?

PISTORIUS: I do. I do, my lady.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you plead?

PISTORIUS: Not guilty, my lady.

CURNOW: At the start of day one, the defense read a statement from Pistorius, backing his plea.

KEN OLDWAGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: "At the time of the tragic accident which led to Reeva's death, we were in a loving relationship. Whilst I admit that I inflicted the fatal gunshot wounds to Reeva, this occurrence was indeed an accident."

CURNOW: Defense advocate Ken Oldwage also laid out the defense's case, not only claiming Oscar believed he was shooting an intruder, instead of Steenkamp, but denying claims there had been friction in their relationship. He also asserted the police investigation was sloppy.

OLDWAGE: It will also be demonstrated that the scene was contaminated, disturbed, and tampered with.

CURNOW: The prosecution started its case with a series of ear witnesses, all neighbors of Pistorius. Deciding not to appear on camera, they testified to hearing screams emanating from Pistorius' home.

BURGER: The fear in that woman's voice is difficult to explain to the court. I was traumatized to what I heard that evening, the absolute petrified screams and shouts.

CURNOW: The defense argued it was likely Pistorius, not Steenkamp, whom the neighbors heard screaming for help.

BARRY ROUX, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: All I say is, when he's anxious, his voice pitches, it sounds like a woman screaming. And what I put to you, that's what would explain why you would hear like a woman screaming and you also hear a man screaming.

CURNOW: Pistorius' ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, later testified to the contrary.

SAMANTHA TAYLOR, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF OSCAR PISTORIUS: That is not true. He sounds like a man.

CURNOW: She also said that night wasn't the first time Pistorius had feared an intruder had entered his home.

TAYLOR: There was one occasion where something hit the bathroom window, and Oscar woke me up and asked me if I had heard it. And so he got up with his gun and he walked out of the room. CURNOW: That night with Reeva would be different. Oscar fired his gun and neighbor Michelle Burger said she heard the fateful gunshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you perhaps give us a demonstration by using bang.

BURGER: Bang, bang, bang, bang.

CURNOW: Three out of the four shots hit Steenkamp.

GERRIE NEL, PROSECUTOR: The first bullet hit the deceased in the right side. The second bullet hit the wall marked F. It missed. The third bullet hit the deceased as she was still seated position on the magazine stand, and that was a bullet in the shoulder. The fourth bullet hit her in the head. She then died.

CURNOW: On day four of the trial, next-door neighbor and physician Johan Stipp took the stand. Stipp was one of the first to arrive at the Pistorius home that night.

JOHAN STIPP, NEIGHBOR OF PISTORIUS: I remember the first thing he said when I got there was that: "I shot her. I thought she was a burglar, and I shot her."

CURNOW: Stipp testified that while he tended to Steenkamp's lifeless body, Pistorius was distraught and repentant.

STIPP: He was crying. He was praying. He was talking to God, telling God to please let her live. Please don't let her die. He was making promises to God. He was trying to, I don't know, maybe get atonement, but was very, very distraught, severely so.

CURNOW: Stipp's account left Pistorius visibly distressed, perhaps even convulsing, according to one courtroom observer.

As the first week of the trial ended, the defense had yet to present its case. Whether Oscar Pistorius will ever run another race, what his future holds will be determined in court.

And, if convicted, he's facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Meanwhile, friends and family of Reeva Steenkamp are left only with images of the past.

(on camera): Reeva had a tattoo on the back of her neck that said "Only God will judge me" in Italian. Do you know why she had that specific tattoo?

KERRY SMITH, REEVA STEENKAMP'S FRIEND: That was something that her grandfather had always said, and it was very close to her own heart. Everyone is having their own opinions. And all you ever hear is, only God can judge. That's what everyone is saying. And, yes, ironically, she had said it as well. And, hopefully, that does happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)