Oscar Pistorius, the "blade runner", kills his girlfriend

[jimnyc]

Not sure of there is a thread on this already or not. Oscar became famous in the last Olympics as being the first person ever to compete in the Paralympics and the Olympics.

On Valentines Day, he was charged with shooting and killing his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. His version is that he was in bed, thought he heard a burglar in the bathroom. Since he didn't have his prosthetic legs on, he grabbed his gun and shot through the door, I think 4 times. Then he took a cricket bat and smashed through the door and that's when he realized it was her. I heard from another report that blood was found on the cricket bat, and that won't help his story.

Of course OUR media is pointing out the 6 or 7 guns he owned, all of which were regular shotguns and pistols. The anti-gun nutters are likely upset that it wasn't an "assault rifle". Maybe they should push to ban cricket bats? LOL

Anyway, this whole story is very sad. He seemed like a decent guy, but one who will likely spend his life behind bars now. I don't know the court system in South Africa though. Maybe the thresholds for proving guilt/innocence are different. I suppose here in the US he would likely be guilty, but at least get manslaughter charges at the very least.

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Such a shame that she was killed though. A beautiful woman senselessly lost.

http://i.imgur.com/7B2DtAT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/i4DRShe.jpg

[darin]

Based on his story, his defense doesn't have a leg to stand on.

(too soon?)

Just awful - either way.

[jimnyc]

Based on his story, his defense doesn't have a leg to stand on.

(too soon?)

Just awful - either way.

A few from my FB news feed:

Blade runner Oscar Pistorius, my opinion very early on, with only the facts we have now, is that Oscar is guilty of murder. Only time will tell, but I really do not believe he has a leg to stand on, so don't expect him to walk on these charges. At least in this trial there will be no bloody footprints.

If the shoe doesn't fit, you must acquit!

[jimnyc]

Here is his defense, or affidavit submitted to the court:


By about 2200 on February 13 we were in our bedroom. She was doing yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television. My prosthetic legs were off. We were deeply in love and I could not be happier.

I have received death threats before. I have also been a victim of violence and burglaries before. For that reason I kept my firearm - a 9 mm Parabellum - underneath my bed when I went to bed at night.

During the early morning hours of 14 February 2013 I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in and closed the sliding doors, the blinds and the curtains. I heard a noise in the bathroom and realized someone was in the bathroom.

I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. There were no burglar bars across the bathroom window and I knew contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside. Although I did not have my prosthetics legs on, I have mobility on my stumps.

I believed someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. I grabbed my 9 mm pistol from underneath my bed.

On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed.

I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realized that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed and I did not see anyone in the bathroom. I heard movement inside the toilet. The toilet is inside the bathroom and has a separate door.

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.

I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet, we would be in grave danger. I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps.

I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to call the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance.

Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on the light. Reeva was not responding.

When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in the bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet.

I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting on to the balcony and screamed for help.

I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open. I think I must have then turned on the light. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door. A panel or panels broke off and I found the key on the floor and unlocked and opened the door. Reeva was slumped over but alive.

I battled to get her out of the toilet and pulled her into the bathroom. I phoned Johan Stander, who was involved in the administration of the estate and asked him to phone the ambulance. I phoned Netcare and asked for help. I went downstairs to open the front door.

I returned to the bathroom and picked Reeva up as I had been told not to wait for the paramedics, but to take her to the hospital. I carried her downstairs in order to take her to the hospital. On my way down, Stander arrived. A doctor who lives in the complex also arrived. Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms.

I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva.

With the benefit of hindsight, I believe that Reeva went to the toilet when I went out on the balcony to bring the fan in. I cannot bear to think of the suffering that I have caused her and her family, knowing how much she was loved.

I also know that the events of that tragic night were as I had described them and that in due course I have no doubt the police and the expert investigators will bear this out.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/19/us-safrica-pistorius-affidavit-idUSBRE91I0OL20130219

[darin]

I wonder how he did all that bringing-the-fan in, and rushing around BEFORE he put on his legs?


For those unware - in Europe rooms often have rolling plastic shutters quite-capable of darkening a room the the point one would need night-vision. I suspect he had the same type.

[Thunderknuckles]

If that's the best defense he can come up with, he is in deep trouble. Way too many holes in that story.
First one that caught me was if he was screaming at the intruder to leave the house and screaming at Reeva to call the police, at some point I expect Reeva to respond vocally. If it were my wife in that toilet she would have said "What the hell is going on?"

[jafar00]

Score one for gun control. If this paranoid whacko didn't have a gun, Reeva would still be alive. It doesn't get much clearer than that.

This is pre-meditated murder. He fired through a locked door knowing full well that he would likely kill whoever was behind the door.

[Voted4Reagan]

South Africa has VERY STRONG GUN CONTROL LAWS...

[Robert A Whit]

A few from my FB news feed:

Blade runner Oscar Pistorius, my opinion very early on, with only the facts we have now, is that Oscar is guilty of murder. Only time will tell, but I really do not believe he has a leg to stand on, so don't expect him to walk on these charges. At least in this trial there will be no bloody footprints.

If the shoe doesn't fit, you must acquit!

His lawyer will have to stay on his tip toes if he expects to win.

She has been cremated already. She is now in the dust bin of history.

I plan to dig way down deep, to get to the bottom of this story so I can stay on top of it.

Based on my local news, the Judge by law has two assistants. He will not be tried by a jury.

Juries were outlawed many years ago. Also he can't face a death penalty since it too was outlawed.

i understand that unlike our prisons, theirs are terrible and he will suffer a lot if found guilty.


Score one for gun control. If this paranoid whacko didn't have a gun, Reeva would still be alive. It doesn't get much clearer than that.

This is pre-meditated murder. He fired through a locked door knowing full well that he would likely kill whoever was behind the door.

Nah, she would be dead. He would have killed her with that cricket bat that apparently was located all bloody.

Old stumpy on his knobs was faster she was.

[taft2012]

Lead isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when considering what I'd like to pump into her.

[jimnyc]

Score one for gun control. If this paranoid whacko didn't have a gun, Reeva would still be alive. It doesn't get much clearer than that

What if someone breaks into a house looking to kill a family, and the father with a gun kills the guy. Turns out it's a known murderer. Do we say "the murderer would still be alive if the guy didn't have a gun"?

The ONLY gun control I perhaps see here, or failing, is that if a guy is a "paranoid whacko", and maybe diagnosed as much, he should be denied a permit. But what would you have - even handguns taken away from the masses to ensure a whacko out there doesn't use a gun?

[jafar00]

What if someone breaks into a house looking to kill a family, and the father with a gun kills the guy. Turns out it's a known murderer. Do we say "the murderer would still be alive if the guy didn't have a gun"?

The ONLY gun control I perhaps see here, or failing, is that if a guy is a "paranoid whacko", and maybe diagnosed as much, he should be denied a permit. But what would you have - even handguns taken away from the masses to ensure a whacko out there doesn't use a gun?

What about Reeva? She was shot through a closed toilet door. She was not a murderer.