Some of the dramatic moments of the Pistorius trial

[caption id="attachment_157590" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius walks across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs during the third day of the resentencing hearing for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at the North Gauteng High Court June 15, 2016.
Picture: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko[/caption]

There has been a fair amount of drama in court over the more than three years it took for Oscar Pistorius to get to the point where he will learn his punishment for murdering Reeva Steenkamp.

As the former SA golden appears in court on Wednesday‚ we look at some of the most shocking moments of the case:

1. Oscar walks on his stumps During his sentencing hearing in June‚ Pistorius removed his prosthetic legs to show the North Gauteng High Court what he looked like on his stumps. Making reference to his disability‚ defence attorney Barry Roux pointed to Pistorius‚ saying that this is the person being sentenced. A sobbing Pistorius walked hesitantly on his stumps wearing shorts.

2. Reeva's post-mortem pictures released Judge Thokozile Masipa granted the state’s application to lift the ban on the publication of the post-mortem pictures of Steenkamp’s body. The application was lodged during closing arguments. Giving testimony for the state earlier‚ her father Barry pleaded with the court to release the pictures for the world to see.

3. The zombie stopper At the start of his trial‚ there was video evidence showing Pistorius shooting at a watermelon with the gun he used to kill Steenkamp. After he blasted the fruit to pieces‚ a voice in the background is heard saying: “It’s a lot softer than a brain‚ but f*** it’s like a zombie stopper.”

4. Oscar cleared of murder After five long months of what has been coined “the murder trial of the decade”‚ Pistorius was cleared of murder by Judge Masipa‚ who convicted the Paralympian on the lesser charge of culpable homicide. She dismissed the prosecution's case that the athlete had intentionally killed Steenkamp. The case was later taken to the Supreme Court of Appeal‚ where the verdict was overturned and Pistorius was convicted of murder.

5. Man cons Oscar A 33-year-old man was arrested in March after he allegedly called Pistorius saying he can squash the case. The Hawks at the time said the man allegedly masqueraded as an official from the National Prosecuting Authority and demanded R250 000 from Pistorius. A R40 000 payment was made to him before he was arrested.

6. A picture of a bloody Oscar During his trial‚ the court was shown pictures of a shirtless Pistorius moments after he shot Steenkamp. In one image he is seen wearing a pair of basketball shorts which are covered in blood‚ as are his prosthetics. A picture from the side also shows Steenkamp's blood on his arm after he carried her down the stairs in his home.

Meanwhile the High Court in Pretoria was packed this morning (06/07/2016) as the public awaited Judge Thokozile Masipa to sentence Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Reeva’s father Barry Steenkamp testified during the sentencing proceedings three weeks ago that Pistorius had to pay for his crime.

Steenkamp said it had been difficult for him to forgive.

“I feel Oscar has to pay for what he did.”

Steenkamp said although his wife June had forgiven Pistorius‚ this did does not mean that Pistorius was being exonerated for the crime he had committed.- Additional reporting Ernest Mabuza

subscribe