Oscar Pistorius says he never got to tell Reeva Steenkamp he loved her

(CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius is back on the stand Thursday for further cross-examination by the prosecutor in his murder trial after a day of relentless and combative questioning.

Vowing to 'get to the truth' of what happened when the athlete shot his girlfriend dead on Valentine's Day last year, prosecutor Gerrie Nel began a blistering cross-examination of the Olympic sprinter.

'You shot and killed her. Say it -- 'I shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp,'' Nel told Pistorius.

The prosecutor immediately boxed the double-amputee athlete into a corner in what his defense team described as an 'ambush,' by asking him about a video showing Pistorius shooting a watermelon at a gun range.

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No one disputes that Pistorius killed Steenkamp. But the prosecution is trying to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did so knowingly and intentionally.

The 27-year old has admitted to the killing, but said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder in the bathroom when he fired through the door and killed her.

Before Nel went after Pistorius, defense lawyer Barry Roux had tossed his client a question to drive that argument home. He asked Pistorius if he had intentionally killed Steenkamp.

'I did not intend to kill Reeva or anybody else for that matter,' Pistorius replied.

Later in the proceedings, as Nel probed him further, Pistorius insisted he thought he would be attacked when he heard noise coming from his bathroom that night.

'I had a fear, I didn't have time to think, I discharged my firearm ... I didn't intend to shoot at anyone, I shot out of fear.'

Court was adjourned for the day following that testimony.

'Zombie stopper'

Nel took the defense team by surprise when he asked the athlete about a shooting range video in which Pistorius is seen firing at a watermelon, and then calling the impact 'a zombie-stopper.'

This prompted the defense to complain that the prosecution was staging an 'ambush' by introducing evidence. The court was briefly adjourned as Judge Thokozile Masipa considered both positions. The defense later said it would not object to the video being shown in court.

'It makes me very upset to hear myself saying something like that,' Pistorius said as he admitted to making the comment. But he insisted he was referring 'to a zombie, not a human being.'

Nel showed the court a graphic photo of Steenkamp's wounded head. Speaking of the watermelon in the video, the prosecutor said: 'It exploded. You know the same happened to Reeva?'

Pistorius snapped, sobbing.

'I was there, I don't have to look at a picture,' he said.

Roux objected to Nel's comparison, and the judge agreed, adjourning proceedings to give Pistorius time to recover. His sister, Aimee, stood next to him to console him while he held his head in his hands and continued crying.

Upon Pistorius' return, Nel pressed the runner on whether his recollection of that night was a reconstruction of what he heard and read rather than what he remembered. Pistorius said it is what he remembers.

'My version has never changed,' he said.

Oscar Pistorius leaves a courtroom in Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday, April 8, after testifying about the night he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, the first double amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, is accused of intentionally killing Steenkamp in February 2013. Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to murder and three weapons charges.Photos: Oscar Pistorius murder trial Oscar Pistorius trial: Murder or mistake? 'I was more into Reeva than she was me'

Nel went over the version of events that Pistorius provided in an earlier bail application affidavit, and the version he has given on the witness stand over the past three days.

At the beginning of the day, Pistorius had finished telling the court what he remembered from the night Steenkamp died, starting with the moment he opened his bathroom door after shooting through it and saw her bloodied body.

On Tuesday, the athlete described tearfully how, gripped by fear, he shot Steenkamp dead through the locked toilet door, thinking she was an intruder.

He had begun his testimony on Monday with a tearful apology to Steenkamp's family.

The prosecution alleges Pistorius killed his girlfriend after they argued. Several witnesses have testified to hearing a man's shouts coming from the house, although they have also spoken of the terrified screams of a woman leading up to and during a volley of shots.

The trial has gripped South Africa, and millions of sports and athletics fans around the world who saw Pistorius as a symbol of triumph over physical adversity.

His disabled lower legs were amputated as a baby, but he went on to achieve global fame as the 'blade runner,' winning numerous Paralympic gold medals on the steel blades fitted to his prostheses.

Only those in the courtroom can see Pistorius because he has chosen not to testify on camera. His testimony can be heard on an audio feed.

Steenkamp's mother, June, sat in court throughout Pistorius' three days on the stand.

The defense team will call 14 to 17 witnesses, Roux said as he opened his case. The trial is scheduled to continue until the middle of May.

Judge Masipa will decide the verdict in collaboration with two experts called assessors. South Africa does not have jury trials.

CNN's Richard Allen Greene, Brent Swails, Emily Smith and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report

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