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Texts reveal Steenkamp was ‘scared’ of Pistorius’ anger

Oscar Pistorius was a ticking time bomb whose terrified girlfriend sent him text messages weeks before he killed her saying she was “scared out of my mind” by his “tantrums,” according to riveting testimony in his murder trial Monday.

“I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and of how you will react to me. You make me happy ninety percent of the time and I think we are amazing together … but I am not some other bitch … trying to kill your vibe,” Steenkamp said in a Jan. 27, 2013, message after a fight.

“You have picked on me excessively … I do everything to make you happy and you do everything to throw tantrums. I understand you are sick but it is nasty,” she wrote.

“I just want to love and be loved … and I’m certainly very unhappy and sad. I can’t be attacked by outsiders for dating you and be attacked by you — the one person I deserve protection from.”

The cowardly Pistorius, 27, bowed his head and wept as the messages were read by a top police investigator — only his latest histrionics as his murder trial entered its fourth week.

Pistorius wept in court on Monday.Getty Images

“I’m the girl who fell in love with you but I’m also the girl who gets side-stepped when you are in a sh-t mood … I get snapped at and told my accent and voices are annoying.”

She also texted about an incident during a pal’s engagement party, when Pistorius accused her of hitting on another man and “made a scene at the table” which forced them to leave early.

“I was not flirting with anyone today. I feel sick that you should suggest it,” adding that he“f–ked up a special day for me” by throwing a tantrum.

“You do everything to throw tantrums in front of people. We are living in a double standard relationship where you can be mad about how I deal with stuff when you are very quick to act cold and offish when you’re unhappy,” she said.

Pistorius later replied, saying “please let me know when I can call you.”

She said Pistorius would talk to her about how “you have dated another chick” but he got upset about stories about a long-term boyfriend.

She revealed that Pistorius had even scolded her for chewing gum and touching his neck.

“I am the girl who let go for you, even when I was scared out of my mind. I’m the girl who loves you.”

Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, in court on Monday.Getty Images

On Feb. 7, a week before he killed her, she wrote about another episode where he blew his cool.

“I did not think you would criticize me so loudly. I regard myself as a lady but I did not feel like one tonight,” she said.

Francois Moller, a top South African police investigator with a unit known as the Hawks, read the WhatsApp messages he obtained from Pistorius’ and Steenkamp’s cellphones.

Earlier Monday, one of Pistorius’ neighbors testified Monday that she heard “terrified, terrified screaming” the morning the Blade Runner fatally shot the beautiful Steenkamp, 29.

“It sounds to me as if there’s a family murder, why else would she scream like that,” said Anette Stipp, whose townhouse is close to Pistorius’ home in a gated, heavily guarded community in a Pretoria suburb.

Stipp, echoing testimony from other witnesses, including her husband, Johan Stipp, said she heard shots, the woman’s screams and then a man screaming in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.

Her testimony came as Pistorius’ trial on premeditated murder charges entered its fourth week.

The double-amputee former Olympic hero admitted he killed Steenkamp as she cowered in a locked bathroom at his luxury pad — but insists he thought she was an intruder.

But cops and prosecutor Gerrie Nel charged that Pistorius shot the TV personality and model in the head, thigh and arm in a fit of rage after an argument turned violent.

If convicted of the premeditated murder charge, he faces 25 years to life in a South African prison.

The trial was originally scheduled to last until March 20 but will now continue until the middle of May, the South African court hearing the case announced.

Pistorius said last week he would sell his house to pay for his high-priced legal team, which is fighting to show that the shooting was accidental, which could mean a much lower prison term.

The start of the trial’s fourth week came as Nel prepared to finish the prosecution’s case — and there was rampant speculation he could produce a surprise witness or two.

Pistorius’ sister Aimee and uncle Arnold have been in court every day, so it’s unlikely they will be called because witnesses aren’t supposed to hear each other’s testimony.

But the gun-loving athlete’s dad, Heinrich, has not been in court, which means Nel could force him to testify against his own son.

Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide the verdict with the help of two civilian experts because South Africa does not have jury trials.

Pistorius also faces sentences of five years each for two unrelated gun charges.