Oscar Pistorius arrived to the Pretoria court Thursday to hear the verdict in his murder trial under serious strain. There to support him, his brother Carl -- in a wheelchair after a serious car accident.
After a roller coaster morning that did see one crucial development, however, Pistorius was sent home and told he would have to wait another night to learn his fate.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said little throughout this trial, but Thursday, she was making up for it. In an early indication of where she was heading with her verdict, the judge ruled out the most damning of the possible charges against the double-amputee athlete - premeditated murder.
She said Pistorius was a poor witness and often untruthful, but in a surprise to many who have watched this case closely, she said an intention to shoot did not necessarily amount to an intention to kill.
"The state has clearly not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder," she told the court in her first significant remark of the day.
With charges of premeditated murder and murder ruled out, Masipa called a break for lunch and, Patta said, Pistorius broke down in tears as it appeared increasingly like that the judge was heading toward a ruling of culpable homicide.
Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts as he listens to Judge Thokozile Masipa's judgement at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria
Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts as he listens to Judge Thokozile Masipa's judgement at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Sept. 11, 2014. REUTERS If Masipa were to hand down a verdict convicting Pistorious of culpable homicide, it would mean she deemed the runner negligent in causing Steenkamp's death, and he could still face a lengthy prison sentence for it.
She began with a devastating critique of the state prosecution's case, which relied heavily on neighbors' testimonies that they heard the blood curdling screams of a woman. She said while the neighbors were not deliberately dishonest, they were unreliable.
"The evidence of witnesses must be rejected in its entirety," said Masipa. "A court has to evaluate all the facts taking into account the number of contradictions."
The whole point of this case turns on whether Masipa believes Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by accident on Valentine's day a year ago -- thinking she was an intruder, as he and his defense team have argued -- or in a murderous fit of rage.
CBS News managed to get a rare look inside Pistorius' home -- returning to the scene of the crime.
The bathroom where Steenkamp was killed is surprisingly small. On the wall you can still see the tape marking the bullet holes where he fired those four fatal shots.
The judge now must tell the court whether she believes those shots were deliberate. Those crucial words, however, were not to come on day-one of the verdict reading; Masipa later adjourned the court until Thursday morning without delivering her final ruling.
Source: CBS News
