OSCAR PISTORIUS MURDER TRIAL: the blade runner oscar pistorius shoots girlfriend

[tlynne]

Anyone else hear about the "blade runner" oscar pistorius shooting his girlfriend model reeva steenkamp... he says he thought there was an intruder in his home and shot her through a bathroom door... some believe it was premeditated... it will be interesting to hear more about this! My heart goes out to the friends and family of reeva... she was a beautiful woman with so much more life to live!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...-live.html

[Maggot]

I wonder if he had his springs on when he shot her.

[aussiefriend]

A spring in his step when he sprang into action?

[Maggot]

Poor girl!

[username]

I heard that he cried "uncontrollably" in court today.

[aussiefriend]

Apparently, he didn't have a leg to stand on.

[username]

He didn't have a leg to stand on.

I hope SC zaps you for screwing around in the crime forum, ya' dumb skid mark.

[HairOfTheDog]

He's in deep shit. The charges were upped to "premeditated murder" which carries a life sentence.

Police have confirmed that Ms. Steenkamp was shot four times, including the head and pelvis. She was found in his bathroom. There were some bullet holes in the bathroom door. The only two in the home were Pistorius and Steenkamp.

I think that the "I thought she was an intruder" accidental shooting defense might have stood a chance if she had entered his home unannounced and the couple hadn't communicated after her entry. But, if the neighbors' witness accounts are accurate, that wasn't the case.

Meanwhile, neighbors have reported hearing loud arguing from Mr. Pistorius’s home, just past midnight — just a few hours before she was shot and killed, according to Newser. Police were called to the scene to investigate the argument; around 4 a.m, neighbors then reported the sound of gunfire, according to Sky News.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013...d-shootin/

It will be interesting to hear his defense in light of these witness accounts.

[Maggot]

I wonder if the beautiful model was a bitch and said a bunch of stuff to piss him off enough to shoot her. A crime of passion has many facets and if this guy was weak and got angry from her words, he would blast her if she said stuff like "if you were a whole man" you just never know.
It does not excuse a killing but I could see it happening. He might break down and admit everything once pressed.

Just speculating though.

[NightOwl]

He's in deep shit. The charges were upped to "premeditated murder" which carries a life sentence.

Police have confirmed that Ms. Steenkamp was shot four times, including the head and pelvis. She was found in his bathroom. There were some bullet holes in the bathroom door. The only two in the home were Pistorius and Steenkamp.

I think that the "I thought she was an intruder" accidental shooting defense might have stood a chance if she had entered his home unannounced and the couple hadn't communicated after her entry. But, if the neighbors' witness accounts are accurate, that wasn't the case.

Meanwhile, neighbors have reported hearing loud arguing from Mr. Pistorius’s home, just past midnight — just a few hours before she was shot and killed, according to Newser. Police were called to the scene to investigate the argument; around 4 a.m, neighbors then reported the sound of gunfire, according to Sky News.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013...d-shootin/

It will be interesting to hear his defense in light of these witness accounts.

Thanks for the update!
I agree he's in deep trouble here, if neighbours heard an argument going on this would rule out a burglar. It's all very very sad, to think they possibly had a tiff and he couldn't control his rage. When I first heard about it I thought it was only 1 bullet. 4 bullets is shocking.

[Duchess]

I was prepared to give him the benefit of doubt until I read that he shot through the bathroom door.

[NightOwl]

I wonder if the beautiful model was a bitch and said a bunch of stuff to piss him off enough to shoot her. A crime of passion has many facets and if this guy was weak and got angry from her words, he would blast her if she said stuff like "if you were a whole man" you just never know.
It does not excuse a killing but I could see it happening. He might break down and admit everything once pressed.

Just speculating though.

I'm afraid you may have hit it on the nail Maggot exactly!

[Paulistano]

It is quite a strange story actually.

[HairOfTheDog]

I wonder if the beautiful model was a bitch and said a bunch of stuff to piss him off enough to shoot her. A crime of passion has many facets and if this guy was weak and got angry from her words, he would blast her if she said stuff like "if you were a whole man" you just never know.
It does not excuse a killing but I could see it happening. He might break down and admit everything once pressed.

Just speculating though.

IDK, could have happened that way, but Steenkamp always praised Pistorius publicly. FWIW, The Mirror quotes Reeva's friend as saying that Pistorius incessantly called Reeva when she was working and that she was complaining about how possessive and insecure Oscar had become.

I wish that the trial was going to be televised so that we could hear the actual police evidence. In South Africa there isn't a jury; it's trial by judge and he's ruled that the trial will be closed to the public.

These are the latest facts according to South African newspaper, City Press and US + UK papers:

-There was no sign of forced entry into the home.
-Reeva was in a nightgown when she was shot; her overnight bag was in the bedroom and the bed indicated that at some point both parties had been it that night/morning.
-Neighbors heard arguing late that night and either called police or the community security guards to investigate.
-Reeva was killed about 3 hours later.
-Pisotrius did not call police; he called his dad and a friend.
-Pisotrius carried Reeva out of the bathroom and down the stairs before paramedics and police arrived.
-Police recovered the 9mm that Pistorius used to kill Reeva inside the home.
-Reeva's skull had been crushed. A bloody baseball bat was taken from Pistorius's bedroom. Police are analyzing it to determine if the blood is Reeva's or that of Pistorius (to rule out that Reeva used it to defend herself; doesn't look like he had any injuries however). Police are also testing the bat to determine if it was used in attempt to break down the bathroom door.
-Police believe that Reeva was shot in the hip while in the bedroom, went into the bathroom for shelter (sitting on the toilet suffering from wound); Pistorius shot 3 times into the bathroom. She was shot in the head and in the hand, hand wound likely due to her trying to protect her face.
-Police are analyzing his blood and did tox screen; "roid rage" is being suggested as a possible defense tactic. Speculation.
-There have been domestic disturbance calls to Pisotrius's house in the past; a 19 year old girlfriend accused him of assault but there wasn't enough evidence to prove that he intended to harm her and no charges were pressed; Pistorius threatened to break the legs of a man involved in an altercation (over another woman) and police had to intervene. All of this occurred within the last couple of years.

Pisotorius's family is trying to sell the intruder story and making a lot of public statements to that effect, but that makes no damn sense at all and police have confirmed that it doesn't fit the evidence in any way; it is not under consideration. Pisotrius's family has declared that it's going to send its own forensics experts to examine the house when police finish. I think it's denial or damage control that's driving them.

I don't think Pisotrius is going to tell the truth; looks like he's an entitled athlete/hero with a bad temper and controlling/possessive nature. Like OJ. JMO based on what's been confirmed so far.

Refs/Sources:
http://www.citypress.co.za/news/exclusiv...t-oscar-2/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/...at-1714513

[HairOfTheDog]

Pisotrius's agent, Mr. Van Zyl, announced today that he has cancelled Oscar's racing commitments so that he can focus on his legal troubles. Like he had a choice.

Van Zyl says Pistorius' sponsorships, including with big-name brands Nike and Oakley, are safe for now. He says "all parties are supportive and their contractual commitments are maintained."
http://start.new.toshiba.com/news/read.p...3E&ps=1013

Pretty sure that the agents for OJ Simpson, Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson, Lance Armstrong, Michael Vick... all said the same thing early on; meanwhile their sponsors were preparing behavioral breach of contract documents against the athletes. Oscar's sponsors will drop him when he's denied bail next week, I bet.

As more details are released, it's looking like the pain and terror Reeva experienced in her final hours must have been unimaginable. I don't think anyone except his family is going to be supporting Pistorius for too much longer. I'm trying not to prematurely convict him in my mind, but can't imagine a stronger case against him given the physical and circumstantial evidence revealed thus far.

[Duchess]

Some of the things I have been reading have gone from bad to worse. First the shots fired through the door and now the bloody bat. I've also seen some talk about a rugby player & maybe some jealousy over him, that could just be salacious gossip though.

[Midwest Spy]

Something threw him into (most likely) a jealous rage.

No one needs to be killed like that. Betrayed by someone you care about.

No matter who Oscar would've been with in his life, he probably would've always felt insecure given his physical stature.

Sounds like he was a ticking time bomb, and this woman paid the ultimate price.

[Duchess]

Some more speculation -

[Midwest Spy]

So maybe she did show up in the middle of the night (as a Valentine's surprise) and really did startle him?

It's sounds plausible perhaps, other than shooting her through the door (after identifying herself by now I would assume), and the bloody cricket bat.

I don't know how to explain those two things.

Edit: Also, placing her in the foyer leads me to believe he was already forming some sort of 'story' to make his story sound believable.

More likely, while she was sleeping, a text or e-mail came across on her IPad, and Oscar read it, throwing him into a jealous rage.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, kinda hard to believe that he'd been arguing with someone who he thought was an intruder 3 hours earlier too.

She couldn't have left and re-entered to surprise him later since his home is in a security complex with armed guards. The guards have been interviewed; the police know that didn't happen.

Plus, he's stumped, not blind.

I think your text/email theory makes good sense; hadn't though of it. It fits the evidence.