Pistorius trial: Witness Timelines 4 (J. Stipp)

Johan Stipp:

Awakened by 3 loud bangs. 

Said to wife “I think it’s gunshots”.   

Went to balcony, looked out.   

Heard screaming. 

Sounded like a female, screamed 3 or 4 times. 

All happened in a few moments.

Believes (but not absolutely sure) that he heard a man’s voice shouting, but lower, at the same time as the woman’s voice.

Went back into room, took phone, called security.   

Ascertained that sounds were coming from a row of houses across from him.   

One house had almost all lights on.   

Pistorius house just to the left of this one had bathroom light on.   

Went inside, phoned Silverwoods security, rang but no answer.   

Called 10111 and got a strange signal.   

While was wondering what number to dial next, heard another 3 loud bangs.   

He says they were “right on top of each other, “bangbangbang”. 

Thought that shooter was shooting again and told wife to get away from the window. 

Then got through to house security at 3:15, told what happened. 

During that time was walking round room, went out on balcony again.   

Heard man’s voice shouting “help, help, help” (3 times).   

Went back inside, waiting for security guards.   

They came, he talked to them from the balcony. 

They went over to Pistorius’ house.

At that time Stipp saw a person moving across the bathroom window from right to left.

On cross :

Woke up that morning to sound of shots.

A few seconds passed while his wife said « What’s that ? »

He said « I think it’s gunshots ».

She said « don’t go out » but he was already getting out of bed and going to his patio.

Heard three or four screams of a lady.

 « Extremely fearful, in extreme emotional anguish, almost scared out of her mind ».  Looked at the house to the right, all the lights were on (house next to Pistorius). 

Then looked at the next house over (Pistorius) and saw bathroom light on.   

Could see top half and left third of bathroom window. 

Claims saw lights, heard screams at same time.

He heard a man’s voice intermingled with the woman’s, maybe once or twice.

He phoned security twice (first couldn’t get through, then spoke to them). 

He heard what he took to be two to three more shots (while on phone). 

Immediately before and during these did not hear screams (but was on phone).   

Then he « found himself back on the patio » and heard man’s voice « help help help ».   

Can’t say how long or exactly how much time elapsed.

Notes : Roux says that the records show that he did get through the first time (16 seconds), and then phoned again (or another number) with no answer.  Stipp responds : « that is not correct, if I spoke to them and they answered, I would not have phoned the other two numbers trying to get help, which I did. » He says he first did not get through, then spoke to them.   Roux says that the phone records show that first call he did speak to security, second call no answer.   Stipp says he phoned security guard, no answer, and then called 10111.  After that called another number or two numbers, couldn’t remember what emergency number was.  None worked out, seemed out of order. Then phoned security again and this time got through.

Stipp says heard « help help help » shortly after speaking to security. 

Previously Roux said that Stipp was on the phone with 10111 at 3 :17.

This was when he heard the « second round » of shots.  

Roux confirms that this « second round » are the same sounds heard at 3 :17 by Burger and Johnson.  

Thus all 3 witnesses agree that screaming was before those sounds of shots. 

Stipp notes that shots heard at 3 :17 and screaming before was just like other witnesses. The main different thing was the noise that woke Stipp up.

Then Stipp went to Pistorius house and he and Stander made calls at 13 :28.

Roux quotes from a previous statement by Stipp in which he says « the screams were extinguished at the time of the last shot ».  This contradicts the statement he just made in court (no screams during the second round of shots).  Roux compares this to Johnson and Burger testimony.  Stipp says that maybe this is because the shots occurred when he was on the phone with noises in his ear that drowned out the screams.

The right-hand pane of Pistorius’ frosted bathroom window was open. Stipp could see the top half and saw someone move inside there from right to left. The left-hand pane was the toilet, it was dark. It didn’t strike Stipp that the right-hand pane was open, he doesn’t remember noticing that, but photos taken after the scene show that in fact it was open.  Lights on in bathroom window (=right-hand pane, but not toilet=left-hand pane) during screams and second set of shots. This contradicts Pistorius statement of pitch darkness. After all the screaming (« after the security guard ? the security call ? ») Roux saw movement in the right-hand side of three vertical-pane window, bathroom window, going from right to left.  

Pistorius Trial: Witness Timelines 3 (C. Johnson)

Charl Johnson: Michelle Burger’s husband

He was awoken by screams.

He jumped out of bed and ran onto balcony. 

He heard more screams, then a lady shouted “help”.

A male voice shouted “help, help, help”. 

His wife called him back to bedroom to telephone security.    

He told the story twice to security guards.

But it was the wrong number (an estate where used to live).

He doesn’t know if any screaming was going on while he was on the phone.

Phone records show that this call was made at 3:16 and lasted 58 seconds.

He then ran back out to balcony.  

The lady screamed again, with more intensity and fear in her voice.

It was clear that her life was in danger.   

Then there were shots, with a first one, then a short pause and a volley.   

He guesses about five or six shots. 

During the shots she screamed again. 

"The last scream faded moments after the last shot was fired.”

On cross, Roux challenged Johnson about the sounds he heard. (Cricket bat?)
Johnson insists that he heard gunshots.
He knows guns and owns a 9mm, the same as Pistorius.
 
Roux lines up three problems: 
(1) Why would Pistorius scream for help before shooting Reeva? 
(2) Knowing that he broke down the bathroom door with a cricket bat, when did he do it?
      He called Mr. Stander at 3:19:50 for help (says just after breaking down door)
(3) Why did Johnson hear only one set of sounds? (either shots or cricket bat)

Pistorius Trial: Witness Timelines 2 (E. van der Merwe)

Estelle van der Merwe: Lives in house 72 meters away from Pistorius

Was home with husband and child.  

Woke up at 1:56, heard sounds of arguing, fighting.   

Loud voice, lasting for about an hour.

Thought she heard all or mainly one voice, a woman's voice.

Couldn't tell the language.

Looked out window but couldn’t see anything.  

Was annoyed because wanted to sleep.

Put pillow over her head but still heard.

Around 3 in the morning heard four very loud sounds, explosions/bangs/thuds.  

A lot of discussion in court over the Afrikaans word she used.  

She describes them as “shortly one after the other”.   

Her husband said those were gunshots.   

After the shots there was total silence.   

Then, she doesn’t know how long after, she heard somebody crying out loud.   

She thought it sounded like a woman’s voice.

The Pistorius trial: Witness Timelines 1 (M. Burger)

Everyone knows that eyewitness/earwitness testimonies are not always fully reliable, even when they are given clearly by people who are entirely independent and speaking in complete good faith.

This is exemplified in the ongoing Oscar Pistorius trial, where witnesses to the sounds emerging from Pistorius' home during the slaying of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, give differing accounts of what they heard; not just because some were farther away than others and therefore understandably heard less, but because some literally heard things that others did not hear, or they heard the identical same things but seemingly in a different order.

It's a fascinating exercise to see if we can organize all the events/sounds that were heard to take place in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013 into various possible orders, and by attributing probabilities to them according to the number of witnesses that agree, make a final determination of the most probable order.

To make this experiment, the first task is to carefully listen to the testimony of each one of these earwitnesses and note the description and order of the events they describe.  So far there have been four of these, and I believe that more may testify in the coming days or weeks.

1st witness: Michelle Burger

House at distance of 177 meters, windows open and facing Pistorius'

Summary of testimony:

I woke up just after 3 from a woman’s terrible screams. 

I sat up in bed, my husband also, he jumped up and went out to the balcony. 

I was still sitting in the bed and I heard her screams. 

She screamed terribly and yelled for help. 

Then I also heard a man screaming for help three times, "help, help, help".

I told my husband it didn't help to stand out there on the balcony.
I told him to come back and call security.  He came back in.

I took my cell phone, dialed security and gave the phone to my husband. 
He told the story twice over, but it was the wrong number.

It was the estate where we used to live, not Silverstream. 

My husband ran back to the balcony. 

There were screams again, worse, more intense.  It was a climax.  She was very scared. 
Just after her screams I heard four shots, four gunshots.   

The time between the first and second shot was much longer 
than between the second and third and the third and fourth. 

BANG.  (pause.)  BANG-BANG-BANG. 

I heard screams during the shots; the woman's voice faded away after the last shot.

After the man screamed for help we did not hear him again.   

I thought it was a home attack, a housebreaking.

I hoped he had not been shot in front of his wife.

When I heard about Oscar Pistorius the next morning I said "It can't be that.

That's not what we heard."