Witness says 'weeping, praying' Pistorius tried 'in vain' to save dying Steenkamp

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Another witness at the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has reportedly testified that the Paralympic sprinter wept, prayed and knelt by his dying girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's side and struggled in vain to help her breathe by holding two fingers in her clenched mouth.

The testimony in the Pretoria court was the first detailed, public description of the immediate aftermath of the shooting of Steenkamp by the Olympian in the pre-dawn hours of February 14 - Valentine's Day - last year.

According to Telegraph.com.au, as radiologist Johan Stipp gave his testimony, the Blade Runner was noticeably shaken, bending forward and putting his hand over his face, then moving them to cover both ears, for quite a while.

Stipp said that Pistorius repeatedly kept saying that he shot Steenkamp thinking that she was a burglar, adding that he was concerned that the double amputee Olympian was going to harm himself when he went to the area where he shot the model, as the gun used in the shooting had not been recovered.

Stipp also said that as he bent down near the dying Steenkamp, he saw Pistorius kneeling by her side, with his left hand on her right groin and the fingers of his right hand inside her mouth, adding that he was crying all the time and praying to God to let her survive.

Stating that he used his expertise to try to save Steenkamp, Stipp further said that although he tried to open an airway, he failed as the model had no pulse in the neck and no peripheral pulse, adding that she did not make any breathing movements.

Stipp also said that he noticed a wound in her right thigh, in her upper arm and in the right side of the head, and there was brain tissue around the skull, adding that Pistorius said he would dedicate 'his life and her life to God' if she would live

Three witnesses, including Stipp, have now testified to hearing a woman screaming in Pistorius's home, apparently boosting the case against Pistorius that there was a fight between the couple and Pistorius killed Steenkamp intentionally, the report added.