By: Farai Diza
Oscar Pistorius defense in his murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria was dealt a potentially crippling blow when its expert witness admitted on Wednesday he drew “layman” conclusions on vital evidence.
Eyes, ears and a camera were the tools Richard Dixon, head of the University of Pretoria’s geology laboratory, used to determine, among others, sounds and light emitted from Pistorius’s Silver Woods Estate home on Valentines Day last year, the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius said he killed Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder. The state claims he murdered her after an argument.
“I admit I am not a forensic pathologist. I look and appearances. I used my layman understanding,” said Dixon.
The defence maintains a second set of noises that Pistorius neighbors’ claimed were gunshots, were the sounds of Pistorius bashing open his toilet door with a cricket bat to reach Steenkamp.
Eyes, ears and a camera were the tools Richard Dixon, head of the University of Pretoria’s geology laboratory, used to determine, among others, sounds and light emitted from Pistorius’s Silver Woods Estate home on Valentines Day last year, the night he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius said he killed Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder. The state claims he murdered her after an argument.
“I admit I am not a forensic pathologist. I look and appearances. I used my layman understanding,” said Dixon.
The defence maintains a second set of noises that Pistorius neighbors’ claimed were gunshots, were the sounds of Pistorius bashing open his toilet door with a cricket bat to reach Steenkamp.
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