Paranoid Pistorius obsessed with guns - ex-girlfriend

Samantha Taylor, testifying on day five of Pistorius' murder trial in the North Gauteng High Court, stressed that during their relationship Pistorius always alerted her when he suspected there was an intruder. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel begged Judge Thokozile Masipa's indulgence to introduce fresh evidence before asking Taylor to describe these incidents, taking Pistorius' defence lawyer by surprise. The report says Taylor's testimony on Friday cast Pistorius as a paranoid and aggressive man who frequently argued with her, and was extremely attached to his cellphones and his handgun. 'There was a lot of commotion in our relationship,' she said, adding that it ended for good when he attended an award ceremony with Steenkamp. 'He cheated on me with Reeva Steenkamp.' The report adds in cross-examination, Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux immediately reduced Taylor to tears. He said the young woman - who was 17 when she started dating Pistorius - was lying about when their relationship ended and that he would provide copies of their e-mails to prove this. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

Pistorius told a security guard everything was fine after shots were heard from his house the morning Reeva Steenkamp was killed, says a report on the News24 site. 'Mr Pistorius said to me, 'security, everything is fine',' testified lead guard at the Silver Woods Country Estate, Pieter Baba. 'I heard that he was crying,' he said. He told a colleague with him that he was sure that something was wrong. Pistorius phoned him back and just started crying over the phone and the line cut. Earlier, Baba testified about gunshots his colleagues reported hearing around 03:00 on 14 February last year. A security guard on bike patrol arrived at the entrance of the estate and reported having heard gunshots, Baba said. Baba then drove with another guard in a bakkie to the home of radiologist Johan Stipp, who had called the guards to report gunshots. 'Stipp was outside on the balcony, pointing at Pistorius' house,' said Baba. Full report on the News24 site

A Beeld report claims Pistorius has changed his version of events on the morning of the killing. It says that during his bail application Pistorius never mentioned having an early-morning discussion with Reeva. In that affidavit, he said they had gone to bed and he woke up in the early hours of the morning to bring in a fan from the balcony at which point he heard a noise in the bathroom. However, in his plea explanation last week, Pistorius said he was having a conversation with Steenkamp shortly before getting up to bring in two fans. 'This is a big difference', attorney Barry Hurter reportedly told Beeld. There are two other differences. The first affidavit refers to 'a fan' and the second to 'two fans', while the plea explanation also says the 'noise' he heard in the bathroom was the sound of window gliding open. Another attorney, Marius du Toit, agreed with Hurter, saying the state will without doubt focus on these differences. But Advocate Piet Pistorius said not all discrepancies are important and the accused will get an opportunity to clarify them. Full Beeld report

Today (Monday), Professor Gert Saayman, the 10th witness to take the stand, told the court he had ethical issues with his testimony being broadcast live. A report on the IoL site notes that prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that Saymaan would provide graphic details on Steenkamp's condition after the shooting and the state was opposing the televising of this testimony. Nel also said they would prefer to wait for a grief counsellor to be present in court before starting. On behalf of the media opposing the application, advocate Nick Ferreira said broadcasters and other publications would compromise, that no exhibits would be published and that testimony would not be broadcast live, instead recorded and summarised. Full report on the IoL site