Pretoria – State prosecutors will be seeking a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment for Oscar Pistorius when he goes on trial in March 2014 for murdering Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day this year.  

It appears the prosecution will rely on witness statements that screams were heard coming from Pistorius’s house before and after several gunshots rang out, Eyewitness News reported.

The State has a list of 107 witnesses it will call on, including neighbours, police officers, ex-girlfriends of Pistorius and the athlete’s sister Aimee.

Pistorius claims the shooting was an accident as he believed there was an intruder locked in the bathroom but the State is alleging that it was pre-meditated murder.

But the State will also argue that even if his version is believed, by firing four gunshots blindly through the locked toilet cubicle door, Pistorius intended to kill the person behind it.

The athlete’s legal team now have six months to start preparing for trial. 

News24