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Oscar Pistorius Verdict: The 6 Key Figures Who Have Shaped The Case

6 Key People Who Have Shaped The Oscar Pistorius Verdict
Louise Ridley
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Oscar Pistorius will find out from 11 September whether he is guilty or not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in South Africa last year.

His murder trial has been a long and dramatic case, marked by intense media attention, bungled evidence and conflicting accounts of what happened on Valentine's Day 2013.

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Oscar Pistorius will discover his fate on Thursday or Friday

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Pistorius denies murdering his girlfriend, and says he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder. His version of events has been pulled apart and explored by lawyers on both sides of the case, including the prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who is nicknamed 'Bulldog'.

As the verdict looms, we take a look at the key figures that have shaped the six-month trial.

Pistorius trial: the key people
The prosecutor: Gerrie Nel(01 of06)
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Nel, whose full name is Gerhard C. Nel, is nicknamed 'bulldog' for his ferocious approach to cases and intensive preparation for court.

He is one of South Africa's most high-profile barristers and often takes on difficult cases against well-known figures. He became famous when he convicted the former national commissioner of the South African Police Service, Jackie Selebie, over charges of corruption.

Nel says that Pistorius deliberately shot Steenkamp after a row, and has worked to try to expose the defence's argument as inconsistent.

He also argued that Pistorius has been "tailoring" his evidence and that he was more concerned with "defending his life" than entrusting the court with a truthful version of events.

He opened his questioning of Pistorius by saying: Gerrie Nel began cross-examining and opened by telling Pistorius: "Say it, say you killed Reeva Steenkamp."

He has centered his case around statements from neighbours of Pistorius about what they heard on the night of the shooting. Like the defence lawyer Barry Roux, Nel has been called "overdramatic" in his courtroom style during the case. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The defence lawyer: Barry Roux(02 of06)
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The man defending Oscar Pistorius is rumoured to be South Africa's most expensive defence lawyer. He secured bail for Pistorius, which is unusual given the charge of premeditated murder.

He cross-examined police detective Hilton Botha during Pistorius's bail hearing, forcing him to admit that he had mishandled evidence and nothing he knew could disprove Pistorius's account of what happened. Botha was later removed from the case when it emerged he faced attempted murder charges.

He has said that the fact that Steenkamp was staying with Pistorius on the night of the murder was consistent with the pair being in a loving relationship.

During the trial Roux reduced the first witness, a university professor, to tears. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The accused: Oscar Pistorius(03 of06)
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The South African sprint runner was born on 22 November 1986 in Johannesburg.

He now lives in Pretoria, one of South Africa's three capital cities, where the trial is taking place. Both of his legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, as he had a deformity of the fibula bone in his lower legs.

After paralympic success from his late teenage years, he was nicknamed 'the blade runner' because of his prosthetic blade-shaped legs he uses for running.

He achieved a personal best of 21.30 seconds in the 200 metres at the 2012 Paralympics in London, five months before the shooting. (credit:Chris Ricco/Sports Inc)
The victim: Reeva Steenkamp(04 of06)
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Before she was killed, Steenkamp worked as a model, reality television star and paralegal. She appeared as a celebrity contestant on the BBC's international channel BBC Lifestyle in 2012, for a show called Baking Made Easy.

Steenkamp had been training as a legal advocate and reportedly hoped to qualify by the time she was 30 years old. She died aged 29. She had been dating Pistorius for three months. (credit:Tim Hulme/PA Images Contributor)
The lead detective: Vinesh Moonoo(05 of06)
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Moonoo is one of South Africa's top detectives, and has worked in the profession for nearly 30 years.

He was brought in to replace police chief Hilton Botha in the Pistorius investigation after the bail hearing when Botha was forced to admit he had mishandled evidence.

Botha was officially removed from the case because it emerged he faced attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting at a taxi in 2011. (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
The judge: Thokozile Masipa(06 of06)
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Masipa, a former journalist and one of few female judges in South Africa, must decide if Pistorius committed murder, is guilty of 'negligent killing', or if he should be acquitted because the killing was a mistake. She will also decide on the verdict on his other gun-related charges.

South Africa does not have a jury system, so Masipa will decide assisted by two 'assessors.'

Masipa was born in 1947 in Soweto, South Africa. When observers asked whether the female judge was assigned to the trial because of her gender, a spokesperson for the South African judiciary said no. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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