As the closing arguments in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius begin in the Pretoria High Court, the athlete has been branded as a "deceitful witness" and someone who dropped the "baton of truth".
The remarks were made by Prosecutor Gerrie Nel as he began his concluding arguments on Thursday, with the defense to follow on Friday.
Nel accused Pistorius for having produced "incongruous" reasoning on why he felt the incident was an accident and said he tailored his version. He also refused responsiblity for wrongdoings and used "anxiety" as his defense, Nel argued.
Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valintine's Day last year and has repeatedly argued that he mistook her for a dangerous intruder who could have entered the house through the toilet door.
Steenkamp was killed as Pistorious fired many rounds of bullet inside the closed toilet door. The prosecution says he deliberately shot her after an argument between the two.
The long-running trial, which has been closely followed by international media, was adjourned last month ahead of closing arguments.
Nel began his closing remarks by accusing the 27-year-old's lawyers of presenting two lines of defence that "can never be reconciled." He said Pistorius had argued of firing involuntarily and also out of fear. Nel insisted that only one of the defences could be used.
The prosecution says the Olympic gold-medallist has given conflicting accounts of how and why he shot Steenkamp four times through his toilet door.
Judge Masipa – who in the past is known to deliver tough rulings – is expected to adjourn the trial after the arguments from both sides to consider her ruling. This, according to analysts, could take between a week to a month, BBC notes.
The double leg amputee, better known around the world as 'the blade runner', has argued that 29-year-old Steenkamp's death was an accident.
His state of mind at the precise memento when he pulled the trigger was also considered to be a factor on the final decision with the defence claiming that he had been suffering from anxiety from his childhood. Pistorius was also sent for a psychiatric evaluation to assess whether he was suffering from serious mental or psychological issues – something that was ruled out later.
The prosecution is seeking to show that the defense keeps changing its reasons on why Pistorius fired the rounds of shots at the toilet door that night. The defense started with 'punitive self-defense' and then moved on to accidental shooting, and later they sought to link the incident to his anxiety disorder.
