Pistorius trial – key points from day 27

A neighbour said Oscar Pistorius introduced Reeva Steenkamp as his “fiancee”, while several testified to hearing a man’s high-pitched cries the night he shot her, on the 27th day of the Paralympian’s murder trial.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s proceedings:

– Pistorius’s lawyer Barry Roux said the defence will likely conclude its case within a week.

– Michael Nhlengethwa, a close neighbour, said Pistorius introduced the 29-year-old Steenkamp to him as his wife-to-be around a week before her death.

The sprinter said “please meet my fiancee, Reeva,” Nhlengethwa testified.

– Three neighbours said they heard a man crying in a high-pitched voice in the early hours of February 14, 2013, supporting the defence’s argument that Pistorius was screaming, not his girlfriend.

This was meant to counter state witnesses who testified to hearing a woman’s terrified screams.

Nhlengethwa’s wife, Eontle, said she woke up after hearing a “bang” in the night, followed by a man shouting “help, help, help” and crying.

Asked by Roux to make a sound resembling it, she gave a shrill wail in the courtroom.

– Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the neighbours’ testimony did not contradict the state’s case that Steenkamp screamed before she died, and that the sprinter then shouted in distress.

Another neighbour, Rika Motshuane, testified she heard a man’s shouts around 3:20 am that morning, which was well after the gunshots were fired.