By presenting his witness Mrs Estelle van der Merwe Mr Nel attempted to discredit Oscar Pistorius by trying to prove that rather than being a loving couple spending a peaceful evening at home the couple had been engaged in an argument that resulted in OP shooting Reeva in a fit of rage. He presented this witness claiming to have heard the voice of a woman that sounded angry on and off for an hour. She could not hear what was being said what language was being spoken or even where it was coming from. Yet the voice was so disruptive, she claimed she became irritated and resorted to putting a pillow over her head in an attempt to drown it out to try to get back to sleep. If the voice was loud enough to keep her awake, how is it she was never able to determine at some point at least which direction is was coming from? How was the voice not loud enough to be able to tell where it was coming from, what was being said or what language was being spoken yet loud enough to make out the pitch of the voice and determine it was specifically that of an angry woman? How could it not be loud enough to hear anything specific about the voice yet so loud she had to put a pillow over her head in an attempt to drown it out? If it was loud enough to prevent her from getting back to sleep why did it not eventually wake her husband up? Why did none of the other neighbors testify to hearing it? How is it that the security guard that was tracked to be in the front yard of OP's house during said argument not hear the angry woman or see any lights on at the Pistorius house? How is it she was unable to hear the voice of the other person engaged in the argument?
Despite hearing the voice of the angry woman earlier, in addition to the first set of bangs and the crying out loud that followed after a period of silence Mrs VDM testified that she did not mention hearing the angry woman's voice to her husband until the next morning. Her reasoning for not mentioning it to her husband at the time is because she didn't know where the angry woman's voice had been coming from. It seems rather difficult to understand how a person that had been hearing what she claimed to be an angry woman's voice over a time span of an hour, at some point followed by bangs that sounded like gunshots to her husband and after a period of silence crying out loud would not think to mention it to her husband until the next morning simply because she did not know where the angry woman's voice was coming from. It seems regardless of where the voice was coming from, if she was certain she had heard the voice of an angry woman prior to the subsequent bangs and cries she would have shared it with her husband at the time rather than waiting until the next morning to connect the two events.
To sum up the testimony of Mrs VDM, The voice of the angry woman she had heard on and off for an hour prior to the incident was not loud enough to determine where it was coming from,what was being said or what language was being spoken. Yet the voice was so disruptive and loud she had to put a pillow over her head to try to get back to sleep. Yet not loud enough to wake her husband or for any of the immediate neighbors or the security guard on duty to hear. The voice was coming from far enough away she was unable to determine where it was coming from but close enough to clearly discern the pitch of the voice as that of of an angry woman. Making it difficult to understand how based on the uncertainty of this evidence Mr Nel could determine it was proof of an argument between the couple.
Mr Nel called as a witness Mr Peter Baba, one of the security guards on duty the evening of the incident. It was Mr Baba's testimony that he phoned OP and was told "security everything is fine". OP had been crying Oscar Pistorius then phoned Mr Baba back and all he heard was crying and again the line went dead. Despite Mr Baba's insistence he phoned OP first, phone records and charts provided by the State confirm the order of the calls to be reversed. Oscar Pistorius phoned Mr Baba at 32133 call lasted 9 seconds.. At 32205 Mr Baba returned the call to OP.
On February 14, 2013 at 1:00pm Mr Baba made a statement to the police, W/O Hilton Botha took the statement. In the statement Mr Baba stated my colleagues and I arrived at 286 around 324a.I phoned house holder on cell phone to inquire if everything was in order, he said he was okay but he was crying.
The fact that the State knew before calling Mr Baba to the stand that Oscar Pistorius phoned security first and had Mr Baba's first statement in which he stated OP told him he was “okay” rather than “everything is fine” yet still called Mr Baba to the stand to present his argument is puzzling. What point did it serve to call him when the phone records prove Mr Baba was mistaken about the order of calls and had a statement from Mr Baba that stated OP had told him he was “okay” rather than “security everything is fine”.
There is ear witness testimony of hearing cries for help from a man, there were records of phone calls for help made to Johan Stander and Netcare. These are all signs that things were not fine. It is very doubtful OP was trying to convince Johan Stander and Netcare everything was fine. Why go on the balcony and cry for help and make phone calls to anyone if OP was trying to convince anyone “everything is fine”. If OP had been trying to convince security everything was fine why call Mr Baba and cry? That is a clear indication everything is not fine. Making it highly doubtful he was trying to convince security otherwise.
Mr Baba surely had to have an idea something had taken place due to the security guard on bike duty reporting hearing rifle shots, calls from homeowners reporting hearing gun shots and loud crying. If OP had phoned security and Mr Baba heard only crying from the home owner it seems in accordance with his duties he would return the call to check on the safety of his client. Which is what the records confirm happened.
Mr Baba changed his version of events in his second statement made to police. It seems if OP had told Mr Baba “everything is fine”considering what had happened it would have been something Mr Baba would had informed the police of as soon as possible. It makes little sense that he would tell W/O Botha OP told him he was “okay” in his first statement given at the end of his shift right after the event. And later remember he was told by OP “everything is fine.” He indicated he sat in front of OP's house in the security buggy, telling his co-worker Jacob that he did not believe everything was fine as he had been told. He speculated, If I had accepted Mr. Pistorius” word that everything was fine and left his premises, what would have happened? These are all things that indicated he thought OP was being untruthful at the time. So why would this not be mentioned in his first statement? It seem odd Mr Baba would have forgotten something so significant so soon after the event
Rather than damaging the credibility of OP's version Mr Baba's time on the stand bolstered the probability of OP's version on several different occasions. He stated one of the guards on patrol that night came to inform him at the main gate that there were some gates and doors open – Mrs. van der Mewre’s gate was open, Dr. Stipp’s top sliding door was open and the 194 small gate was open What is very important from this piece of Mr Baba's testimony is that there was no mention of the balcony doors being open at OP's house. In an attempt to cool the room down OP stated after dinner when the couple retired to the bedroom for the evening he had placed the leg of the tripod fan in the doorway of the balcony and pulled the doors and curtains around it to keep bugs out. If this were not true and the balcony doors had been open all night as Mr Nel theorized the guard on duty would have reported seeing the balcony doors open.
Mr Baba stated the security guard on bike duty had reported hearing rifle shots after 300am shortly before Dr Stipp made his 31551 call to security. The security guard is the only witness to have heard the first set of bangs outside of a house. It seems hard to say a security guard that should be familiar with the sound of gunshots and had the opportunity to hear the bangs from the street would be mistaken as to what he heard. This too corroborates OP's testimony that the gunshots were the first set of bangs.
Mr Baba confirmed that a security guard tracking device located in the front yard of OP's house was activated at 220am the morning of the incident and all was normal at the Pistorius house like every other night. Mr Baba also confirmed that the device must be activated every hour by the guard on duty or it indicated a failure by the guard to check in. This indicates all was normal every hour prior to the incident as well Making it hard to understand how a voice so loud Mrs VDM had to put a pillow over her head in an attempt to get back to sleep would not be loud enough to be heard by the security guard on duty that night if the voice was coming from the Pistorius house.
