Much-anticipated trial begins tomorrow.
Not since American Football star O.J. Simpson was on trial for murder has there been as much attention to an athlete in front of a court.
Tomorrow, Paralympic champion and Olympic-ground breaker Oscar Pistorius will face the court charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day last year.
The character of the athlete will be called into question many times, with the prosecution likely to pain the picture Pistorius can be irrational, hot-headed and quick to last out in violence.
His background with guns will also be crucial in the case, with the 27-year-old having a long, and at times if it can be proven, questionable history with firearms.
Footage has been shown of Pistorius has shown footage of Pistorius at a firing range, shooting at a watermelon target that explodes on impact and draws delighted yells and laughter.
The court will hear how, in one incident, Pistorius accidentally discharged a pistol under the table in a Johannesburg restaurant. In another he put a bullet through the sunroof of a girlfriend’s car in a fit of rage. Shortly after Steenkamp’s death.
Last month Pistorius reached an out-of-court settlement over an assault case in which he was accused of injuring a female guest at a party in his house.
In 2009 he crashed his speedboat into a pier, breaking his jaw and several ribs and damaging an eye socket. When he came out of a three-day coma, he had 180 stitches in his face.
Records show the pair had a fight the night of Steenkam’s death, with mobile phone records also set be crucial in the lead-up to when Pistorius allegedly drew a 9mm pistol and shot her through a locked toilet door, hitting her in the head, arm and hip.
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