PRETORIA, South Africa -- The first witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial testified Monday to hearing a womans "blood-curdling" screams before the sound of four gunshots on the night the double-amputee Olympian killed his girlfriend. Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Pistorius says he killed Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder in his house, but prosecutors believe the world-famous athlete shot his girlfriend after a fight and immediately tried to paint a picture at the trial of a loud argument before the fatal shots. Burgers testimony contradicts Pistorius version of events, because he said he thought Steenkamp was in bed and he did not describe any woman screaming. "It was very traumatic," Burger said, speaking in Afrikaans through an interpreter and in answer to questions from lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel. "You could hear it was blood-curdling screams. You cant translate it into words. The anxiousness in her voice, and fear. It leaves you cold." Burger said: "She screamed terribly and she yelled for help" and testified that she also heard a man shout for help before the shots were fired. Pistorius lawyer, Barry Roux, opened his cross-examination by asking Burger if she thought Pistorius was a liar. She didnt directly answer that with a yes or no, but repeated her recollection of the nights events. "I can only tell the court what I heard that evening," Burger said. "I cannot understand how I could clearly hear a woman scream but Mr. Pistorius could not hear it." But Roux argued she had changed her testimony from the written statement she gave to police soon after the shooting, only adding "blood-curdling" as a description of the screams in court. Pistorius earlier pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial to charges of murder and three other counts relating to shooting guns in public and illegal possession of ammunition. Wearing a dark grey suit and black tie, he spent the first 30 minutes of the first day of the trial at the high court in the South African capital standing before his defence lawyer, Barry Roux, asked the judge for permission for Pistorius to sit. The Olympians murder trial was being broadcast live on TV in South Africa and across the world. The first witness, Burger, was called before even an hour had passed as the prosecution went straight into testimony. The trial itself started 90 minutes late after an earlier delay because of an interpreter problem. When he entered court, Pistorius walked past the victims mother who says she came to court so she can "really look him in the eyes." Defence lawyer Kenny Oldwadge laid out Pistorius legal strategy, reading a statement from Pistorius in which he says the killing was an accident and that there were inconsistencies in the states case, as well as an attempt to introduce inadmissible character evidence to discredit him. In the statement, Pistorius said he brought two fans in from the balcony on the night of the killing, after speaking to his girlfriend who was in bed beside him. He said Steenkamp must have gone into the bathroom while he was fetching the fans. Pistorius said he did not notice that she had gone and heard the bathroom window open. "I approached the bathroom, armed with my firearm, so as to defend Reeva and I," Pistorius said in the statement. He said he then heard a noise in the toilet, and was in a "fearful state" because he was unable to run away or defend himself physically since he was not wearing his prosthetic legs. "The state has embarked on a strategy to rely on unsubstantiated allegations," he said, citing a neighbours testimony that an argument had been heard in his home. According to Pistorius statement, other neighbours living nearby said they had not heard any argument. He also cited evidence provided by police detective Hilton Botha as "false in material respects." In the courtroom, Pistorius was seated near Steenkamps mother, June. She was quoted in the Pretoria News, which published an interview she gave to a British newspaper, saying that she wants to see Pistorius. "I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva," said June Steenkamp, 67. "Whatever the court decides at the end of his trial, I will be ready to forgive him ... But first I want to force him to look at me, Reevas mother, and see the pain and anguish he has inflicted on me. I feel I need that." Reeva Steenkamp was a glamorous model and budding reality TV show star when she was cut down at age 29. Earlier, a drone carrying cameras flew over the entrance to the courthouse in grey, drizzly skies. Several broadcasters massed live broadcast satellite trucks around the courthouse. A 24-hour cable channel devoted to covering the trial was launched in South Africa on Sunday. If convicted on the murder charge, Pistorius could be sent to prison for at least 25 years before the chance of parole, the minimum time someone must serve if given a life sentence in South Africa. South Africa does not have the death penalty. A lesser sentence is possible if Pistorius is found guilty of murder but without premeditation. He also could be convicted of culpable homicide, South Africas version of manslaughter in which someone is killed through negligence. The additional firearms charges relate to him allegedly shooting out of the sunroof of a car in one incident and another when he allegedly fired a gun inside a restaurant, apparently by mistake. Ammunition also was found at his house after the shooting that he allegedly did not have proper licensing for. Judge Thokozile Masipa, hearing the biggest trial of her career, will ultimately pronounce the champion runner innocent or guilty and will decide on any sentence. South Africa has no trial by jury. Parts of the trial will be broadcast on live television, both in South Africa and across the world. A South African cable channel has been launched which will provide 24-hour coverage of the Pistorius trial, using commentators and prepared feature stories when the court is not in session. Sneakers Sale . First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Air Max 90 Sale . Patty Mills had 20 points, Tim Duncan had 11 points and 13 rebounds in limited action, and San Antonio rolled to a 110-82 victory over Milwaukee that kept the Bucks winless in the new year. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/air-max-97-sale/.ca. Kerry, In the closing minutes of the second period of Game 4 between Pittsburgh and Columbus there were the remnants of two broken sticks behind the Pittsburgh net. Air Max 270 Sale . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Under Armour Shoes Sale .C. - Canadian ice dancing, it seems, is in good hands.TORONTO - The top line of Max Domi, Sam Reinhart and Anthony Duclair showed off some flashes of brilliance as Canadas world junior team dominated the play against Russia in its first exhibition game Friday night.A 2-1 overtime loss was the end result, but outshooting Russia 53-20 left Canadas players and coaches feeling good about this first impression. Nothing was better than the play of the first line.We built some instant chemistry, said Duclair, who was robbed of two goals by Russian goaltender Ilya Sorokin. It goes back to the summer camp, I think Max, Sam and I have some pretty good friendship off the ice and I think it translates well on the ice as well.Canada made its final cuts less than two hours after the game, releasing forwards Michael Dal Colle, Jason Dickinson and Rourke Chartier along with defenceman Haydn Fleury. All thats left is the 22-man roster, which includes Curtis Lazar from the Ottawa Senators.We came to the conclusion that it was time to get our team together, coach Benoit Groulx said. With the addition of Curtis yesterday, we feel that were all set to announce our team. Thats why we decided to make the decision tonight.Sorokin was the star of the exhibition game with his 52 saves. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Sergey Tolchinsky scored for Russia in regulation when Reinhart knocked the puck into his own net, and Alexander Sharov had the overtime winner.But the result wasnt as important to Groulx as the process.I thought we skated well, we pushed the pace, we did a lot of good things with and without the puck, Groulx said. Obviously we had our chances, their goalie was phenomenal, but for a first game for us, were quite happy with the effort and the chances we had.Duuclair and Domi had some of the best chances.ddddddddddddDomi, son of former Toronto Maple Leafs star Tie, set up defenceman Josh Morrissey for Canadas only goal of the game.We had a lot of grade-A scoring chances, Domi said. Sometimes that happens, you run into a hot goalie. But youve just got to be a little bit more resilient and we should be fine.Canadian goaltender Zach Fucale blamed himself for not squeezing the puck on Russias power-play goal that went in off Reinhart. But Groulx said Fucale played well in making 18 saves.Fucale was starting on the same day he was traded in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from the Halifax Mooseheads to the Quebec Remparts.Sometimes days like that happen, Fucale said. Youve just got to zone everything out and make sure youre ready to play.Fucale said the whole team was ready to play, and with a strong start one of the priorities, its hard not to be satisfied.We were expecting to score a little more for the number of shots we put on the goal, centre Frederik Gauthier said. The goalie was really good. But in general our performance, I think, was pretty good. Our coach is happy and I think were happy about our performance, too.Canada will travel to Ottawa to play its next exhibition game Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa against Sweden.That game is expected to feature Canadas real lineup. Forwards Lazar, Connor McDavid, Nic Petan and and defenceman Joe Hicketts were held out of Friday nights game against Russia.After playing Sweden, Canada will face Switzerland in its final exhibition tune-up Tuesday at Bell Centre in Montreal. The tournament gets under way Boxing Day when Canada goes up against Slovakia.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '