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Pistorius takes the stand in murder trial

PRETORIA, South Africa — His voice shaking, Oscar Pistorius took the witness stand Monday for the first time, testifying that he was trying to protect the girlfriend he killed and that he became so tormented by memories of the fatal shooting and panic attacks that he once hid helplessly in a closet.

The South African double-amputee runner, called “Blade Runner” for his prosthetics, also apologized to the family of Reeva Steenkamp, who died from multiple wounds after he shot her through a closed toilet door last year in his Pretoria home. He said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. Prosecutors allege he killed her after an argument.

“There hasn’t been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven’t thought about your family,” the athlete said at the murder trial as Steenkamp’s mother, June, looked impassively at him in the courtroom.

“I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved.”

Reeva SteenkampGetty Images

Pistorius’ display of anguish and remorse was a marked departure from the testimony of some prosecution witnesses whose accounts painted a picture of the Olympian runner as a hothead with a jealous streak, an inflated sense of entitlement and an obsession with guns in the months before he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model.

He has yet to be cross-examined about the shooting in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, and that testimony is likely to be the centerpiece of a trial being broadcast on TV and followed around the world.

Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Some analysts think the judge, who will decide the case, will consider a lesser charge such as homicide, which could still send him to prison for years.

Pistorius, 27, spoke in a soft, quavering voice at the start of his testimony, prompting Judge Thokozile Masipa to ask him to speak more loudly. He stood at first, stifling sobs as he said he was on antidepressant medication and sometimes woke from nightmares to the “smell of blood.”

Pistorius described the positive role of his mother, Sheila, and his grief when she died when he was a teenager.

He spoke about the sacrifices he had made for his athletic achievements, his work with charity and how religion was important to him.