Pistorius Denies Taking Acting Lessons

In response to accusations made in an open letter by an acclaimed South African journalist, Oscar Pistorius has denied that he took acting lessons to prepare for his murder trial. In her letter, Jani Allan poured scorn on Pistorius's frequent emotional outbursts, claiming she had heard from a "reliable source" that the Blade Runner had been taking acting classes to give a convincing performance before the court. Pistorius has stuck by his story that the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was accidental and that he mistook her for an intruder.

Allan accused Pistorius of leading a life "without spirit," and wrote that even if he is telling the truth — which she does for a moment to believe he is — then he's still a murderer.

Oscar, I look at you mewling and puking in the witness stand. You truly represent everything that the West loathes about white South Africans who live extravagant lives in their expensive laagers. Your constant and preposterously ridiculous statement that you thought it wasn’t Reeva trapped in the bathroom, but an intruder, opens yet another can of haricots. The implication of this is that it would have been more acceptable to shoot an intruder the way you did. Execution from behind a closed door.

A spokeswoman for the Pistorius family, Anneliese Burgess, flatly denied Allan's allegations in a statement on Tuesday.

"We deny in the strongest terms the contents of her letter in as far it relates to our client and further deny that our client has undergone any 'acting lessons' or any form of emotional coaching," Burgess said, according to USA Today. "This type of comment makes a mockery of the enormous human tragedy involving the Steenkamp family and our client and his family."

Pistorius has so far faced 25 days in court, five of which were spent being ruthlessly interrogated by prosecutor Gerrie Nel, known as the "pit bull." Both on the stand and off, Pistorius has appeared overwrought with emotion, crying, hiding his face, and even vomiting.

Pistorius's trial is currently adjourned, and will recommence on May 5. If he is found guilty or premeditated murder the former Olympian will be facing life imprisonment with no hope of parole for at least 25 years.