Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- A defense attorney Tuesday tried to poke holes in the highly emotional testimony of the first witness in the murder trial of Olympian double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, as another witness said she also heard screams the night model Reeva Steenkamp was killed.
On the second day of the trial, testimony continued with the questioning of Pistorius' neighbor, Michelle Burger, who said Monday she was awakened by screams, followed by gunshots, when Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year.
Defense attorney Barry Roux attacked Burger's credibility, accusing her of using her husband's statement to craft her own.
Paragraph by paragraph, Roux pointed out similarities between their two statements. Burger repeatedly explained that the statements were similar because they both heard the same thing. "I'm as honest as I can be to the court," she said.
Oscar Pistorius reaches out to his uncle Arnold Pistorius and other family members as he is led out of court in Pretoria, South Africa, after being sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday, October 21. Pistorius, the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, was sentenced for culpable homicide in the February 2013 death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
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Pistorius has admitted he killed Steenkamp but pleaded not guilty, saying that he mistakenly believed he was shooting a burglar. He only realized after firing four shots that his girlfriend was not in bed but in the bathroom he was firing at, his defense team said on his behalf Monday.
Burger cried when she described the gunfire. "It was awful to hear the shots," she said through tears.
On Monday, Burger testified that, "Something terrible was happening at that house." She called the shouts and screams "petrifying."
Roux questioned how Burger had heard the screams from far away: "You heard that out of a closed toilet in a house 177 meters away?"
Clearly rattled at times, she was granted a small reprieve as the court adjourned to investigate claims her image had been seen on television -- a violation of her right to remain anonymous.
The case has fascinated South Africa and much of the world, with its high-profile defendant, the double-amputee track star so talented that he competed not only in the Paralympics but against able-bodied runners in the Olympics two years ago.
Neighbors heard shouting
A second witness, another of Pistorius' neighbors, told the court Tuesday she also was awoken by shouting on the night Steenkamp was killed.
In brief testimony, Estelle van der Merwe said she heard loud voices that went on for about an hour and put a pillow over her head to try to get back to sleep. She said she heard four sounds but could not be sure what they were.
Burger's husband, Charl Johnson, was the third witness to take to the stand before the court adjourned for the day. Describing what he heard from his home that night, he said the "intensity and fear in (the woman's) voice escalated and it was clear that her life was in danger."
"That's when the first shots were fired. I remember hearing a succession of shots," Johnson said. "I heard the lady scream again and the last scream faded moments after the last shot was fired."
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel, reading a report from an expert, told the court that of the four bullets that were fired toward Steenkamp: "The fourth bullet hit her in the head. She then died."
At this remark, Pistorius clutched his head in his hands.
LIVE UPDATES: Pistorius on trial for murder
Testy testimony
Burger's testimony has been marked by confusion at times.
After Roux had asked her a question several times Tuesday, Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa intervened: "When counsel asks a question, you answer that question ... The quicker way to get out of that (witness) box is to answer exactly what counsel is asking."
During Nel's questioning Monday, Burger told the court that she heard a woman's screams and a man yelling for help.
"Just after 3, I woke up from a woman's terrible screams," she said. "Then I also heard a man screaming for help. Three times he yelled for help."
She assumed a nearby home was being invaded by criminals. She later told her husband that she feared the woman had witnessed her husband being shot "because after he screamed, we didn't hear him."
Roux spent hours hammering Burger with questions in Monday's cross-examination, asking repeatedly if there could have been shots before she woke up, if she was sure about the sequence of events and about her knowledge of guns.
He asked if the "bang" sounds she heard might not have been gunshots, but rather a cricket bat bashing at a bathroom door. She answered that she had clearly heard gunshots, testily answering Roux's questions about how much time had elapsed between them by saying she "didn't sit there with a stopwatch and take down the timing of each shot."
Moments of low comedy
Oscar Pistorius appears in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday, March 3. South Africa's double amputee track star is accused of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
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South African model Reeva Steenkamp died in February 2013 after she was shot at the home of her boyfriend, Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius. She was 29. Pistorius has been convicted of culpable homicide.
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Despite the serious subject of the trial, there were lighter moments, such as when Roux described the voice of Pistorius as sounding "like a woman screaming" when he's anxious.
"I'm 100% certain I heard two different people that evening," Burger insisted.
There also was repeated confusion, irritation and befuddlement over the language in which Burger testified. She spoke Afrikaans, her native language, and had an interpreter translate her words into English.
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But she regularly corrected her interpreter's English and had a brief discussion in English with the judge about whether she should testify in that language.
It was agreed she would continue to testify in Afrikaans, but she repeatedly lapsed back into English.
Pistorius pleaded not guilty Monday to one charge of murder and a firearms charge associated with Steenkamp's killing, as well as two gun indictments unrelated to Steenkamp.
It's expected to take at least three weeks for Judge Masipa to hear the case and decide whether Pistorius mistook Steenkamp for a burglar or killed her in cold blood.
In South Africa, which abolished jury trials in 1969, premeditated murder carries a mandatory life sentence, with a minimum of 25 years. Pistorius also could get five years for each gun indictment and 15 years for the firearms charge.
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If he isn't convicted of premeditated murder, the sprinter could face a lesser charge of "culpable homicide," a crime based on negligence, and could be looking at up to 15 years on that charge, experts say.
Parts of Pistorius' trial are being televised live -- a first in South Africa -- after a judge's decision last week allowing cameras in the courtroom. But witnesses have the option of not having their images televised. The witnesses so far have taken that option.
June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's mother, was in the courtroom for Monday's testimony, marking the first time she had laid eyes on Pistorius in person. The two had never met before.
Steenkamp's parents have avoided previous court appearances because they wanted privacy.
Dream couple
Pistorius, now 27, and Steenkamp, 29 when she died, were a young, attractive, high-profile couple popular in South Africa's social circles.
Pistorius, nicknamed the "Blade Runner" because of the special prostheses he uses while running, won six Paralympic gold medals and became the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, in London in 2012.
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Cover girl Steenkamp, who was soon to star in a TV reality show, was on the cusp of becoming a celebrity in her own right. Everything changed before dawn on Valentine's Day 2013, as Steenkamp lay lifeless in a pool of blood on the floor of her boyfriend's house in an upscale gated community in Pretoria.
Moments before, Pistorius says, he had pointed his 9 mm pistol toward an upstairs toilet room and fired four bullets through the locked door.
In court documents, Pistorius has said he heard a noise from the bathroom in the middle of the night and -- feeling vulnerable without his prosthetic legs on -- charged toward the bathroom on his stumps.
He has said he shot through the toilet door in order to protect himself and Steenkamp.
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"I felt a sense of terror rushing over me," he said in his court affidavit. "There are no burglar bars across the bathroom window, and I knew that contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside."
"It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet. I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window. As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself."
READ: Oscar Pistorius' affidavit to court in full
Prosecutors are painting a different picture. They say the pair had an argument and that Steenkamp locked herself in the toilet.
At last year's bail hearing, the state said Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs, collected his gun from under the bed and walked down the hall leading from the bedroom to the bathroom before unloading a flurry of shots through the door.
Pistorius is not claiming self-defense; he is claiming to have been mistaken about his need for self-defense. He is denying that he intentionally, unlawfully killed Steenkamp. He has never denied killing her.
The case has put the spotlight on South Africa's rampant gun violence and high crime rates.
Roughly 45 people are murdered every day, according to police statistics, and the number of home burglaries is up 70% in the last decade.
In 2012, more than half of South Africans told the country's police force that they were afraid of having their homes broken into. In his affidavit, Pistorius said he had been the victim of violence and burglaries before, including death threats.
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CNN's Robyn Curnow, Nick Thompson, Ashley Fantz and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.
Pistorius leaves the high court in Pretoria on Monday, October 13. A judge cleared Pistorius of premeditated murder last month, but he was found guilty of culpable homicide -- the South African term for unintentionally, but unlawfully, killing a person.
Pistorius speaks with his uncle Arnold Pistorius during his trial at the Pretoria High Court on Friday, September 12.
Pistorius cries on the stand in Pretoria on Thursday, September 11, as the judge reads notes while delivering her verdict.
Pistorius arrives at court on September 11.
Pistorius speaks to someone in court as his murder trial resumes in Pretoria on Thursday, August 7.
Pistorius sits in court in Pretoria on Tuesday, July 8.
Pistorius arrives at court in Pretoria on Monday, July 7.
Pistorius yawns during day 37 of his murder trial on June 3.
Pistorius hugs a supporter Wednesday, July 2.
Pistorius listens to evidence being presented in court on Monday, June 30.
Pistorius leaves the court in Pretoria on Tuesday, May 20.
Pistorius reads notes during his trial on Monday, May 12.
Ballistics expert Tom "Wollie" Wolmarans testifies for the defense on May 12.
A red laser dot points at bullet holes in the bathroom door for a forensic demonstration during the trial on May 12. Pistorius admits firing four bullets through the closed door, killing Steenkamp, but says he thought he was protecting himself from a burglar.
Pistorius returns to court as his murder trial resumes Monday, May 5, after a break of more than two weeks.
Pistorius gets a hug from a woman as he leaves court in Pretoria on Wednesday, April 16.
Pistorius rubs his eye Tuesday, April 15, after testifying during his murder trial.
Pistorius arrives at the court in Pretoria on Monday, April 14.
Pistorius' sister, Aimee, cries in court as she listens to her brother's testimony on Tuesday, April 8.
June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's mother, reacts as she listens to Pistorius' testimony on April 8.
Pistorius is hugged by his aunt Lois Pistorius in court on Monday, April 7.
Pistorius sits inside the courtroom as members of his defense team talk in the foreground Friday, March 28.
Pistorius leaves court on March 28. The trial was delayed until April 7 because one of the legal experts who will assist the judge in reaching a verdict was sick.
Steenkamp's mother, right, and family friend Jenny Strydom react in court Tuesday, March 25, during cross-questioning.
Cell phone analyst Francois Moller testifies during the trial on March 25. Questioned by the prosecution, Moller listed in order the calls made and received by Pistorius after he shot Steenkamp.
Pistorius cries as he sits in the dock during his trial on Monday, March 24.
Pistorius talks to defense attorney Barry Roux on March 24.
Pistorius holds his head while members of his family talk behind him on Tuesday, March 18.
Steenkamp's mother, wearing the white collared shirt, looks on while a police officer takes notes in court March 18.
Pistorius is hugged by his aunt Lois on March 18.
Pistorius takes notes Monday, March 17, as his murder trial enters its third week.
Pistorius covers his head as he listens to forensic evidence Thursday, March 13.
Forensic investigator Johannes Vermeulen, left, is questioned during the trial March 13.
Pistorius listens to questions during his trial on Wednesday, March 12.
A police officer takes part in a court reconstruction March 12. A police forensic expert said Pistorius was on the stumps of his amputated legs when he knocked down a locked toilet door with a cricket bat to reach his shot girlfriend. That counters the track star's assertion he was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time. Defense attorney Barry Roux countered by suggesting that even with his prosthetic legs on, Pistorius would not be swinging a bat at the same height as an able-bodied person.
Pistorius listens to cross-questioning on Monday, March 10.
Friends of Steenkamp's family watch Pistorius during his trial on March 7.
Pistorius covers his ears on Thursday, March 6, as a witness speaks about the morning Steenkamp was killed.
Pistorius' sister, Aimee, right, speaks with members of Steenkamp's family on March 6.
Pistorius sits in court on the third day of his trial Wednesday, March 5.
Pistorius appears on the second day of his trial Tuesday, March 4.
Members of the media work during a break in proceedings March 4.
Pistorius talks with Roux inside the court on March 4.
Pistorius speaks with his legal representatives on March 4.
Pistorius is escorted out of the court Monday, March 3, after the first day of his murder trial.
People try to get a glimpse of Pistorius as he leaves the court building on March 3.
Pistorius is seen shortly after arriving for his trial on March 3.
Pistorius walks into the courtroom on March 3.
Pistorius takes a drink of water March 3 during his trial.
The case has captivated South Africa. Here, Lauren Wentzel watches the proceedings from her home outside Cape Town on March 3.
June Steenkamp arrives at the court building for the start of the trial.
Pistorius' relatives wait inside the courtroom on March 3.
People at the court building wait for Pistorius' arrival on March 3.
Pistorius won gold for the first time at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. He won the 200-meter final and set a new world record. The South African sprinter has been called the "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs.
Prosthetic legs stand on the ground as Pistorius coaches children in Manchester, England, in April 2006.
Pistorius competes in a 400-meter race in Berlin in June 2008.
Pistorius is seen in Rome during a race in July 2008.
Pistorius wins gold ahead of Americans Jerome Singleton, left, and Marlon Shirley, right, in the 100-meter T44 during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
Pistorius poses with his medals from the IPC Athletics World Championships in January 2011. He won three world titles there but lost the 100-meter T44 final to Singleton. It was his first loss in a race over 100 meters since the 2004 Paralympic Games.
Pistorius passes the baton to Ofentse Mogawane in a 4x400-meter relay race during the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in September 2011. Pistorius was the first double amputee athlete to compete at the World Athletics Championships.
Pistorius races in the men's 400 meters during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Pistorius competes in the London Olympics.
Pistorius carries the South African flag during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics in London.
Pistorius competes in a men's 400-meter T44 heat at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Pistorius poses on the podium with his gold medal after winning the men's 400-meter T44 final at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Pistorius receives his honorary doctorate from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2012.
A picture taken on January 26, 2013, shows Pistorius and Steenkamp at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.
Pistorius leaves the Boshkop police station with his face covered on February 14, 2013.
Pistorius, swamped by the press, leaves a Pretoria courtroom in June.
Before she started dating Pistorius, Steenkamp was famous in her own right. She was a law school graduate with a vibrant personality and a slew of modeling gigs under her belt.
A 21-year-old Steenkamp poses on a beach in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where she grew up. Steenkamp's friend Kerry Smith photographed the aspiring model when she was a law student.
Steenkamp poses for another photo taken by Smith. Steenkamp was born in Cape Town, but she moved to Johannesburg to pursue modeling.
Pistorius admitted to shooting Steenkamp, but he says it was an accident. Prosecutors argue he intentionally killed her after an argument.
Steenkamp appeared as a contestant on a South African reality show, "Tropika Island of Treasure." Her pre-recorded episode aired two days after her death.
Steenkamp served as a presenter for FashionTV in South Africa. She was also an FHM cover girl and the face of cosmetics company Avon.
Steenkamp "was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on Earth," said Capacity Relations, the agency that represented her.
