Dramatically taking the stand in his own defense, Paralympic runner and reformed gun enthusiast Oscar Pistorius said today that he was only trying to help his girlfriend when he shot her four times through the bathroom door, believing her to be an intruder. “I want to start by apologizing to Reeva’s family,” he said while reportedly crying, shaking, and talking so quietly the judge asked him to speak up. “I was simply trying to protect Reeva.” Having already vomited, sobbed, and covered his ears throughout the high-profile trial, Pistorius looked “broken and shattered” on the stand. “I can smell the blood,” he said, describing his “terrible nightmares” since the shooting. Addressing the Steenkamp family, he said, “I can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved.”
