The first week of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial in Pretoria, South Africa, has concluded, with the already notorious case perpetually posing more questions than it answers.
Questions of the 'Blade Runner's' character, questions of the sequence of events, and questions of the mishandling of the case by local police officers have all marred the trial thus far, with little conclusively established.
On Friday, Pistorius' former girlfriend delivered a potentially damning testimonial of the athlete. Samantha Taylor spoke of Pistorius' habit of carrying firearms wherever he went - including sleeping with one in the bed - and an incident where he allegedly fired a shot through the sunroof of a car after being pulled over for speeding. She also spoke of a separate incident where the two were tailed by another car, prompting Pistorius to get out and flash his gun at the window. The warning worked, evidently, with the car pulling away.
Nevertheless, Taylor maintained that at no point did she feel threatened or afraid of the other car, indicating that Pistorius' actions were rash and unfounded. The prosecution has concentrated on events such as these in a bid to demonstrate Pistorius as paranoid and dangerous, as well as establishing him as having a long-standing mistrust of authority figures.
Taylor also alleged that Pistorius' relationship with Reeva Steenkamp, the deceased, began while she and the athlete were still technically a couple. Prosecutors are also relying on the testimony of Pistorius' neighbors within the compound he and Steenkamp lived in, with witness accounts failing to align with Pistorius' version of events.
Pistorius claims that he thought a burglar was in his home, and, without his prosthetic legs, felt particularly vulnerable. Hence, he says, he fired shots, ostensibly to protect the girlfriend who would ultimately die as a result.
However, neighbors renditions of what they heard differ from this iteration, with several noting the sounds of arguments and screams prior to hearing the gunshots. Charl Johnson and his wife, who live less than 200 meters from Pistorius' home, both attested to hearing screams prior to the shots being fired. "The fear ... in the lady person's calls contrasted with a very monotone male voice," said Johnson. "The man almost sounded embarrassed to be calling for help." Pistorius' defence team is countering the testimony, saying that the high-pitched screams were in fact Pistorius himself when he realized he had in fact shot Steenkamp.
Apart from its inherently sordid nature of the case - not to mention the defendant being an internationally recognized athlete - Pistorius' trial has been noted for the initial mishandling of evidence and the reveal of corruption and underlying tensions in South Africa's police hierarchy as the rest of the world looks on.
Hilton Botha, the initial chief investigating officer, had previously acknowledged a series of procedural errors in the accumulation of evidence, before being removed from the case when it was uncovered that he himself was awaiting trial for murder charges related to an incident some four years prior. Botha has since been replaced by Vineshkumar Moonoo, the 'most senior detective' in the South African Police Service.
Oscar Pistorius came to recognition first as a gold medalist in the Paralympics, and later - perhaps more impressively - as a competitor in the Olympics, despite running on prosthetic legs. If he is found guilty, he would face the possibility of life imprisonment, effectively ending his career. If found innocent, it remains unclear whether or not the athlete will be returning to the track straight away, with his earlier popularity steadily declining after the events that unfolded on February 14 2013.
The trial continues, with an anticipate end date of March 20.
