Pistorius Prosecution in Fight to Prove Premeditated Murder

South African prosecutors face a struggle to win a premeditated murder conviction for Oscar Pistorius when the Paralympian gold medalist’s trial starts on March 3, legal analysts said.

While Pistorius, 27, has admitted to shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three times in the middle of the night while she was in his bathroom on Valentine’s Day last year, prosecutors may find it hard to prove he had criminal intent, Stephen Tuson, a criminal law professor at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, said in a phone interview yesterday. Tuson said this may change depending on what evidence prosecutors have.