Pistorius trial – key points from day 26

A neighbour testified of a man shouting for help the night Oscar Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend, on Day 26 of the athlete’s murder trial that resumed after a two week-break.

Here are highlights from Monday’s proceedings:

– Defence lawyer Barry Roux called Johan Stander, the manager of the upmarket security complex where Pistorius lived in Pretoria. Stander was the first person the sprinter called after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen were also the first people on the scene.

-In gut-wrenching testimony Stander, who is also Pistorius’s friend, described arriving at the crime scene to see the Paralympic gold medallist carrying the mortally wounded Steenkamp down the stairs in his house.

“The expression on his face, an expression of sorrow, an expression of pain. He’s crying, he’s praying,” said Stander. “It was as if he was torn apart.”

– Carice Viljoen testified to hearing a man calling for help in the early morning hours on Valentine’s Day 2013. This appeared to support the defence’s case that Pistorius screamed, contrary to earlier witness testimony about a woman’s screaming.

“The voice I heard, I know, sounded to me it’s a man’s voice. I could hear a man shouting, meaning there must be terrible trouble, because then where’s the lady?” said Viljoen, her voice trembling with emotion.

– Judge Thokozile Masipa confirmed the court will not sit on Wednesday, when South Africa votes in general elections that mark 20 years of democracy.