64 Replies to “Pictures from Behind the Door/One Tragic Night”
Great exhibit photos with explanations captioned…with all this evidence , it did not prove OP intended to kill Reeva.It did cast doubt about OP’s account but not enough to convict him of murder.
It proves his intent to murder someone. A human being is a human being. Even if he didn’t know it was Reeva (and I think it’s pretty darn obvious that he did) that does not somehow make him innocent. He should bear the label “murderer” for the rest of his life and serve an extremely hefty sentence. Masipa failed Reeva. She did not deserve to be riddled with bullets for opening a window in the night. He was not “careless” – he chose to kill. With any luck, the next judge will be a little less taken in by the sobs and snot and see the reality of what this “man” did.
I agree with Helen. If you look at photos 436 and 437, it’s pretty clear he was aiming at someone trapped in a confined space. If they found one bullet hole aimed at the very bottom of the door, then perhaps that might prove he wasn’t intending to kill. But those four bullet holes really are suggestive of something else.
The damaged steel panel on the bath? Was he wielding that bat around before the shooting too? Its not his story.Any ideas?
The police testified that they could not definitively say what caused the dent, so OP was never asked about it on the stand.
To me, it looks like the cricket bat caused that. I definitely believe there was a domestic struggle and there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to back it up. The house reeks of a fight… I don’t believe in that many coincidences.
I also don’t believe in coincidences. And just because the police don’t know what caused a thing, i’m not clear why Oscar cannot be asked for his explanation nonetheless. Surely the more times he has to give a difficult answer, the more difficult his cross-examination is. Why waste good material? Beats me.
The most powerful images for me were the bullet trajectories. If you view the holes in the door it looks more random. If you view the actual paths, however, it looks far from random, as though trying to shoot the “person” on the toilet, and then track them when they fell “sideways/forwards” onto the rack. As it turned out, Reeva was actually standing when he fired A and probably B, but OP did not know where the “person” was. By his own admission, the trajectory of A is not designed to disable an intruder “coming out”.
If you wanted to kill a person you believed was sat on the toilet, those shots would be devastatingly accurate.
So many coincidences – every step of the way as he and Reeva “missed” each other – and then for such a conclusion to come about, with him firing the “right” numbers of bullets to resemble a murder, and then stopping before the remainder is fired. Gah.
As for the bath dent, I think it was more likely to be Oscar kicking it in frustration for some reason, perhaps to try and “get a grip” of the situation he was in a few minutes later. Like punching a wall to try and make yourself focus and think faster – not cave in. Something like that? Can’t see how hitting it with a bat would happen in the course of rowing with Reeva. It wasn’t like she was in the bath! It’s an off target effect that doesn’t seem to be directed at Reeva.
Also of course the Stipps never saw figures moving about engaged in a physical altercation of this type.
Well…not that many coincidences, anyway. 🙂
I agree with DJ that the metal plate was probably kicked in OP’s running amok. There’s a lot of damage to his legs.
Bat or legs, either way, how does that metal plate fit into the intruder story, M’Lady?
Hi and thank you again for all you do for us in the “worldwide courtroom”. Still so depressing that, knowing Judge Masipa saw all the evidence, she gave the verdict she did. Though I have began to wonder more about the assessor Janette Henzen-du Toit and her role in all this. Not sure where I’ve read it (may be from your research!) but isn’t there conflict of interest or bias when someone on the bench is so heavily on one side of the case? This assessor is doing a doctorate on Holistic sentencing! To give a criminal the least sentence possible! Her background as an advocate is for Criminal Defense, in addition to that she is heavily interested in the paraplegic community and may be married into a family that has a paraplegic athlete. (Natalie Du Toit, paraplegic, has a brother and may be married to Ms. Henzen, and they all live in same town!) I began to wonder if, given that Masipa is elderly and quite frankly almost crippled with illness, if Ms. Henzen-du Toit didn’t have a larger role in the verdict and writing the ruling than we know. What went on “Behind the Door” of the judges’ chambers? There was a reporter that noted the wording, phrases, etc. of the verdict was very unlike Judge Masipa. May it not have been the lady assessor? The young man who was the other assessor I don’t believe has much background to speak of, nothing like Ms. Henzen-du Toit. Also has anyone read that this is Judge Masipa’s last case? That was written back in Feb or March. Still a lot of questions we’ll probably never know the answers to, but I have a bad feeling that Barry Roux will get what he wants with the sentence, he got exactly word for word what he wanted in the verdict, that it should be Culpable Homicide and that only Tasha’s incident be considered and that he should be found guilty of that. Amazing…..Sorry this is so long, just one more thing that really really made me so angry was during the reading of the verdict, almost 100% of the time, KENNY OLDWAGE kept staring, smirking, and giggling at Gerrie Nel, it was disgusting! Did anyone else see that? How unprofessional! I’m in my sixties, an older lady, but I wanted to punch him through the computer screen! (No I would never do that but he was infuriating!) We can only HOPE that there is some justice to come, I don’t think so though but now we’re more prepared for it, sadly Masipa will probably end her hitherto lustrous career with this incredibly bad injustice. Again thank you for all your hard work! Greatly appreciated!
Hi Tess. Yes, I saw Kenny Oldwadge do that too. His behaviour throughout the trial was incredibly unprofessional – making faces at witnesses, smirking, shaking his head. Roux, at least, managed to treat the case with the gravity it deserved.
Interesting thoughts about the female assessor. You may be on to something. Holistic punishment??? Sounds like just the type of person to be taken in by the likes of Pistorius.
It was also well documented that Masipa has a background of being a social worker, who often dealt with domestic abuse. People were suggesting that she would understand and sympathise with Reeva. But she hardly even mentioned her, thought her text messages were “normal” and obviously bought OP`s tears.
I don’t think we can read too much into the Assessors mindset, when the problem was apparently Masipa`s error in law.
Hi Helen! Yes the “Holistic” punishment was an odd term to me, I had to do some research on that one! From what I’ve found so far, it refers to taking all the circumstances about the person into account, his youth, his family, his disabilities, etc. and incorporate it all into making a “unique” sentence for each person as a whole. (That’s exactly what Roux did if you think about it, he followed that model step by step) It just made me wonder about how much the assessor and the defense worked together??
There are many other links I found as well, researching old newspaper articles from South Africa, there was one very interesting one that I will list here, please note though that I do not know if the Thys Henzen below is related to Janette Henzen:
So that being said, here is what I found:
Janette Henzen (before she married du Toit) worked or lived in Rustenberg (also referenced on her Facebook page).
Her parents names are Thys and Franci Henzen. (From Bleed newpaper article)
Some years ago, a Thys Henzen became a paraplegic as a result of a car accident, then some years after that was arrested for an altercation,(from the newspaper South Africa Today)
while in the jail he was raped by the men in the cell, and was abused by the SAPS police as well.
If this man was related to Janette, it would certainly explain her mindset as far as interest in the paraplegic community and even against the SAPS. She may not be related at all to this Thys Henzen, BUT odds are she probably heard or read about this individual. (not father as I think she is too old, maybe a brother?)
What led me to start this research was the link I found on her Facebook page, “Living without Limbs” under her Favorites.
And at first I was stunned as she’s an assessor for a paraplegic charged with Murder!!
So there is definitely some kind of interest in paraplegia on her part for whatever reason!
And I do think that may tip the scales in favor of Pistorius, how much we’ll never know. But it seems like a conflict of interest (do they have that in S. Africa courts?) especially in a murder trial. The articles about a Thys Henzen are interesting though and may provide the initial interest in this disability though now I’ve read that her husband is the brother of Nanette du Toit, also a paraplegic athlete in S. Africa.
In closing I must say I don’t know anything as fact, all this is from what I’ve read in articles on the internet, still just circumstantial evidence! (ha!)
Have a good day…
Tess
Just a few observations after looking at these very good photos …
There is a tube of Voltaren gel on the closet side bedside table on top of the magazines in front of the gun holster. This pretty much tells me that Oscar was indeed sleeping on the closet side of the bed that night due to his sore shoulder. Also one photo of Oscar of his left profile after the shooting you can see the medical red tape is around his right shoulder blade on the right side of his back (quite a large area).
If you look at the photo of the ladders at the side of the house you can see on the right margin the jeans and they are on a ledge. If you look at the other photo of the jeans they are on the ground with a dog in the picture. I had thought the jeans might have been the way the watch left the house. Put the watch in a pocket and float the jeans out the window … retrieve the watch later while in the back yard and leave the jeans … just a hypothetical … I wonder the order of the photos … were the jeans originally on the ground and someone placed them on the legs or vise versa. Dog may have pulled the jeans off the ledge.
Hi Willy,
I think the combination of the magazine plus the flip flops plus the Voltaren cream prove that Reeva was on the left closest to the sofa. Oscar would not be able to put that cream on his own back, he likely would have Reeva apply it for him.
His t-shirt, iPads, clippers, ammunition… All were on the right side. There is more physical proof that he was on the right. I would have liked to see DNA done on each of those coffee mugs on the nightstands! That could have helped to prove or disprove the sides.
Either way, I don’t think there was much or any sleeping going on that night.
As for the jeans, it seems to me that the position they were found was on the ground. A police photographer would not place them in the manner that was seen, butt up against that brown box, to photograph them. They would have laid them out more clearly. The close up photo of the jeans that I’m referring to is not in this group, it can be found under my blog post for the Van Staden testimony.
Actually, on websleuths there is an accounting of the time that each photo was taken. We can look there to verify the time of each. I say jeans on ground first, then on top of box next to ladders second, but I need to verify that.
Agree completely re: the Voltaren. It would have been close to impossible for Pistorius to apply that himself. Not only because it would be hard to reach, but if his shoulder was stiff, the stretching would have physically hurt. I am certain he’d have got Reeva to do that for him. That doesn’t prove she was sleeping that side, but it makes it means that it’s placement is largely irrelevant.
I find the position of the “slops” interesting. They are together in the middle of the floor. If she was putting them away neatly before walking round the bed, they wouldn’t have been left there – they’d have been placed by the sofa, out of the way. Where they are seems to be in the exact position they would be if she’d slipped them off while sitting on the edge of the bed before getting under the covers.
I am certain she slept on the left hand side of the bed that night.
That picture of Reeva’s shorts is devastating. 😦 So much blood coming from that wound!
Am I right in assuming that the blood on the ground is from her arm and hip wound?
I ask because OP said her arm was on the toilet seat with her head rested on it and in the reconstruction video that is how Aimee was positioned.
I find it odd that he would get her position wrong, like he did with the magazine rack.
I asked Chris Greenland, Ulrich Roux and David Dadic the following question on Twitter a few weeks back, their answers were unanimous…
On his own version, If OP was 100% correct, in that Reeva WAS in bed and an armed intruder HAD entered his bathroom, where does the law stand on OP killing him.
The answer was, guilty of murder because his life was not in danger.
When you add in his gun proficiency test, where he clearly knew when he could and could not shoot, his murder acquittal is even more bizarre.
I asked this question and got no reply. So thanks. Also the South African rugby player who shot dead his daughter after seeing a car being driven away from his house would have been banged up for twenty years if it had have been a thief rather than his daughter. So him actually killing his daughter rather than a thief a was free pass out of a lengthy sentence. It’s strange how the law works but there you go.
With regard Judge Masipa – she still made a complete mess with regard Dolus Eventualis … that’s the main issue … as explained by James Grant elsewhere. There was also an issue with regards of the unlicensed ammunition … as explained by James Grant elsewhere.
Basically as long as the Judge explains clearly their reasoning I can sort of accept it as one must but in this case Judge Masipa failed in her reasoning (see above).
Maybe that is what Judge Massipa will say when she frees OP next week – she will probably say she doesn’t want to punish OP twice … but I don’t think she will get away with that.
Miktal , on this I agree. Judge Masipa allowed the acquittal on this on the technicality that the intent standard to convict is ‘subjective’…and she fell for OP saying he did not intend to kill anyone for that matter” , again Nel failed to cross examine him on that ‘subjective’ issue…He could have asked ” so what was your intention when you fired 4 times thru that door?? to scare someone? to disable him? which ‘trained’ gunman shoots 4x toward a toilet bowl area so small if not to kill?? regardless…the judge did err on this one…
I think if you watch the cross examination on why OP shot, Nel couldn’t have done anymore IMO. He had Oscar right where he wanted him. He even forewarned the court that OP would do exactly what he did; avoid responsibility when it mattered and turn on the waterworks when caught out
The problem with claiming putative private defence, as I see it, is that you have to commit to the intent to kill. OP did this in his Bail and Plea, but on the stand, changed to no intent. There is absolutely nothing to support his explanation of “not intending to kill anyone”
It absolutely beggers belief that Masipa couldn’t see how much the defence was scrambling and completely disorganized after OP`s testimony. It was as clear as day that they were trying to repair the damage by calling witnesses and doing tests so late; it was a joke at times.
Those 4 bullet holes do show a change in aim, which inturn shows direct INTENTION to kill whoever was behind that door. 4 shots was excessive, and he had no reason to justify them, legally. Neither was there any life threatening cause for that action. He knows the fire arms act and failed to follow it on all accounts, and must be legally held liable for its disregard which led to the death of RS. That to me is DIRECT MURDER. Judge and crew got it wrong and have made SA society feel so unsafe. The law does not seem to protect the victims right to life, but rather the perpetrators ‘right’ to give a LUDICROUS version of events. An account accepted as possible even though probability is extremely high that it NEVER happened as he claims. This outweighed by the probabilty that he knew it was the deceased behind that door all along. The proof for murder is in the door. That he knew it was RS is in his testimony.
It is planned murder he intended to kill 4 shots means that. I am sure Gerrie has an appeal planned to put this murderer away where he belongs I don’t know what was going through that judges mind why she accepted his version of events what never happened. IMO she has made SA more dangerous OP is guilty and everyone knows it.
I am not at all certain that Nel’s ultimate aim was ever the intent to murder Reeva aspect. I think it was always about eventualis. He’s a very experienced prosecutor – he knew the evidence was shaky and didn’t meet the beyond a reasonable doubt standard. I think he set out to show the kind of man Pistorius is and to demonstrate that, Reeva or not, he intended to kill whoever was behind that door. I think he achieved this very well, and a more sensible judge would have found Pistorius guilty of murder.
Ya Gerrie needs to apologise to OP and reimburse him for legal cost, and mental aggrevation caused. The Steenkamps must reimburse OP for the rare and expensive ammunition he used, as well as the laundry and house cleaning. This is Pistorius people, how dare we even suggest jail.
Watch him get off with a wholly suspended sentence/house arrest/fine/very stern warning to be more careful next time.
Something has been puzzling me for a while about the housekeeper, Frank. Both Johan and Carice Stander said that when they first arrived at Pistorius’s house, the security guard Baba and Frank were outside. When Baba gave evidence, he only mentioned the other security guard who was with him when they drove to Pistorius’s house, and didn’t mention Frank at all. If it really was Frank that Johan and Carice Stander saw (and they both stated categorically that it was Frank), I wonder when it was he actually arrived on the scene. He apparently claimed not to have heard or seen anything, but if it was him who was up and about outside Pistorius’s house, then he was one of the first people on the scene. When did he get there – before/after security arrived? What did he see and hear then?!
To Juror 13 (or anyone else that knows the answer). What happened with respect to the firing of the gun at the restaurant. Did OP friend admit to it. Was the police called? How did the police handle it?
Hi Jason, Darren Fresco took responsibility for the gun going off at Tasha’s, even though it was in Oscar’s hands. The owners of the restaurant testified and stated that they verbally reprimanded the guys and they left shortly after. The police were never contacted. Apparently they knew the owners fairly well, so they gave them a pass.
Oscar’s friends or former friends, Kevin Lerena and Darren Fresco both testified that Oscar asked for the gun to be passed to him under the table. Darren told him it was “one up”. Who knows what the heck happened, but they state that Oscar was fiddling with the gun and it went off and he narrowly missed Kevin’s foot. This was in a restaurant filled with hundreds of people. Crazy!
Of course, Oscar denied that he ever had his finger on the trigger, it magically went off on its own, he denied that Darren ever told him it was “one up”, and he denied that he asked his friend to take the wrap. He denied it all. But his friends told a different story on the stand… one called the truth.
The judge did find him guilty on that count, but dismissed him on the ammo possession count and the sunroof count. Here’s the judgement on that count:
Count 3: Contravention of Section 120(7), alternatively section 120(3)(a) and further alternatively section 120(3)(b) of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000, the accused is found guilty of the second alternative that is the contravention of Section 120(3)(b).
So we’ll have to see if he receives any type of punishment for this. My guess, a fine… to go along with his KP duty for killing a person. It’s appalling. He’ll be waving around those guns again in no time. He lies his ass off in relation to the Tasha’s incident, gets busted by his friends and is found guilty but when it comes to the murder charge… he’s believable. It’s defies logic.
Hi! Well it’s day one of the sentencing phase. I thought I’d heard it all, then during the lady psychologist’s testimony, I thought I have heard it all BEFORE! It was oddly familiar and I started hearing phrases I know I’ve heard in this trial before. But only from the defense witnesses. It was beginning to sound like a recording of the same script by different actors, for example, the big phrase of the day “He was a broken man.” I know that one, it struck me as an odd phrase when I first heard it…..way back in March 2013. During an interview with a close friend (Azzie or something like it) said and I quote from the Mirror:
“Oscar Pistorius is a broken man who thinks of ending his life, a close friend has revealed.” Then in May 2013, a headline from UPI from Uncle Arnold Pistorius: “Oscar Pistorius is “A broken man…” and on and on month after month until the trial….and then we get:
From Johann Stander: He was broken, he was screaming, crying…… right after his testimony
Clarisse Stander Viljoen: He was broken, praying, crying…..
then
From Oscar himself on the stand….I’m not sure M’lady I was broken, I was crying….
From Christina Lundgren He was a broken man M’lady
and today from Dr Hartzenberg Oscar is a broken man.
This is ridiculous! And there’s more, this is just a part of what seems to be rehearsed testimony! Is that even legal? I’m not sure but I’m surprised that no reporter has noticed this, it’s getting to be too ridiculous. I know they have a PR person, Annaliese Burgess, she’s usually on top of these things but she seems to have missed this. Maybe she wrote it and liked how it sounded! Ha! Anyway just wondering if anyone else had noticed and hoping for the best in sentencing! Have a good day!
Someone mentioned it was a farce. This Is the last act. I do get a sense of a certain inevitability about it all. Everything is in line with Judge Masipa saying she doesn’t want to punish OP twice.
Personally I don’t mind what the outcome is but I want the court and Judge Masipa to be honest about the reason given – and her decision to clear OP of Dolus Eventualis and to not make OP accountability for some of his nonsense on the witness stand – was very poor indeed.
Oh yeah… I’ve noticed. I’ve pretty much had enough of the “broken” BS myself. And apparently we’re all a bunch of morons who have spoken negatively about Oscar and now he’s lost his self-belief and future because of us, he can’t sleep because of us, he’s depressed because of all of us… The big bad world, the evil prosecutor and rotten media and misled public has destroyed his poor little old self. Hey guess what Oscar… Fuck you. That’s how I feel about your issues.
“The owners of the restaurant testified and stated that they verbally reprimanded the guys and they left shortly after. The police were never contacted. Apparently they knew the owners fairly well, so they gave them a pass.”
Okay thanks, so basically the restaurant owners were angry but it was all dealt internally because OPs group were friends or good customers and there was no serious outcome. I guess the police wouldn’t have done anything because for South Africa it was a “minor” occurrence given the amount of crime in the country.
I thought something more could be made of it in the sentence hearing, but it seems maybe not.
The way the hearing is going it looks like OP is going to get something like a three year community service – recommended by a state probation officer. That’s the sort of things you see people getting for personal possession of recreational drugs. There appears to be an issue with the state of SA prisons: how well they can cope with the needs of disabled inmates and maybe that is going to be a factor. Now that Judge Masipa has already decided on culpable homicide and not Dolus Eventualis it looks like OP is going to not serve a single day in jail.
It’s all been a bit of a mess. I think what we are seeing in this trial is partly a reflection of the current state of society in South Africa. But it also occurs in all other societies involving the influential and wealthy members of that society. The law is ultimately there to protect them than others and intruders whether mythical or not are perhaps considered fair game if they trespass.
Still I hope there is an appeal with regard the Dolus Eventualis clearance. I feel sorry for all those that are going to be left with a deep sense of injustice.
Is there some kind of prize for the worst defence witness or something???
Wasn’t it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that Maringa didn’t even understand the charges against OP in recommending the three years of pity sentence? He contradicted her very words to come to his findings, yet she STILL asked questions about the museum work as though it is under consideration!?!
Worrying times indeed. with the appeal, this trial is gonna drag on and on
Hey, lets re-evaluate the sentences of convicted CH offendors while we at it. Reduce their jail time and giv’em correctional supervision. Is OP that special? Was RS life that worthless her killer must be treated like best gift from the heavenly angels?
The Steenkamp parents must take the stand and cry for their daughter in court. They are the real victims. Whatever OP has lost he can regain, and he lost thru his own making. But death cant be reversed, and she didnt ask for it.
Judge, please be fair. It cant be all about OP and his guilt, his remorse, his ptsd, his losses etc. If he doesnt get any jail time to serve, the system is shamefully flawed. He killed, so there must be punishment, IN JAIL.
What would a “good” sentence be & one acceptable to the State?
I am thinking 5 years jail time with no early release. In Britain that would be 10 years because after half the sentence they are considered for parole. This balances the fact that the Judge cleared OP of murder (erroneously in my view – at least for dolus eventualis and the reasoning given).
Anything less than that then I think there will be “trouble”. Personally I think a community service sentence would also be “good” – not because it would be “good” but because it would create such an uproar – there would be societal consequences – which could lead to improvements in the system plus an appeal.
Personally I do believe Judge Masipa needs to face some form of real criticism in the reasoning (& erroneous decision making) she has followed,
The problem with OP is that even if he had intended to kill an intruder (& the evidence points to his intention to kill) one gets the sense that he doesn’t really appreciate the gravity of what has happened & the need to change his life for the betterment of others.
Separate to this I would like to make an allegation about the SA Justice system.
White wealthy people are allowed to shoot dead black trespassers and thieves in practice. I would like to know of any cases in South Africa where a white wealthy person has been convicted of murder and sentenced to jail for shooting dead a black trespasser or thief.
Roux: mi lady, he is a first time offender, he has no money, he has suffered for 18 months, he has no legs. Remember it was only culpable homicide … clearly when he fired his rocket launcher through the shop doorway he thought there were black intruders in there, not white women and children.
The seriousness of this crime he needs to get the full 10 years behind bars but nothing hides the fact that in reality he is guilty he knows it his family know it and so does his legal team. This broken man thing is getting on my nerves Reeva’s family is broken for good after their loss they’ll never get her back.
I have listened to the final sentence summing ups by the defence and the state. Whereas I thought the final summing up in the verdict stage of the court case was one – sided in favour of the defence (even though JM botched up in my view dolus eventualis), in the sentencing phase I thought it was more even.
The defence brought up the case of Siyabonga Mdunge, who shot and killed his wife as she opened the bathroom door under circumstances similar to OP. In that case Mdunge was sentenced to 8 years but it was suspended – meaning he didn’t serve time in jail. The State didn’t refute that so Judge Masipa could go for something similar.
Yes the State argued for the suitability of the prison to handle people with disabilities but I think JM would have had to reject the defences claim that SA prison system wouldn’t be able deal with prisoners with disabilities anyway.
It seems to me that the same thoughts she used for “clearing” OP of dolus eventualis, which included a recognition by her, Judge Masipa, that OP suffered anguish because Reeva was shot, and her saying that she didn’t want to make OP suffer twice, earlier in the trial, was NOT countered by the State.
Hence I think that again as ex Judge Greenland mentioned, JM can take a somewhat arbitrary in scope decision in the sentence. That is, for example, give OP 10 years but suspended similar to Mdunge. I think JM has to continue along the lines of her original thinking of not “punishing OP twice” and that he didn’t intend to kill Reeva “let alone” an intruder.
So basically JMasipa is “free” to go harsh or to go lenient. However, although she didn’t take into account the public when she cleared OP of dolus eventualis, I am not sure she can entirely discount the public in the sentence phase. I think she will consider the uproar if she allows OP to go “free”. Hence, I think she will impose a lenient custodial sentence – 3 years maximum in a private medical room or something … but she till might go for a 8 year sentence that is suspended type decision.
ps my own private view was that there was enough in this case to convict for dolus eventualis of the person behind the door.
I would have said in my summing up that while OP was shooting four times through the bathroom door he had in his mind the the thought that he didn’t fire a warning shot because he might have been seriously injured and possibly killed by a ricochet.
There are several other reasoning’s that could have been employed – all of which Judge Masipa was in a position to consider – that could have and should have led to a conviction of the dolus eventualis of the person behind the door.
It is my view that her decision can ONLY be explained by certain unwritten rules that allow “free shots” at trespassers and thieves that are “invariably” black. Once Judge Masipa decided that the State hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that OP knew Reeva was behind the door before shooting … the unwritten rule meant he would automatically not be charged with murder.
Nel did very good in arguing to the court as to the seriousness of the negligence and that the level in this case did border on Dolis Eventualis. He also bought up the things that Masipa found not to make sense, not asking Reeva if she had heard the noise, or not waiting for her to respond to him when he armed himself. He also correctly stated that in fact OP knew what he was doing as he read from the trial transcript ,the answer he gave regarding why he did not shoot a warning shot. He said if he knew that 1 bullet to the shower would recochet and hurt him surely he knew what 4 shots into that small cubicle would do to the person behind the door. To me it was clear that if Nel does not get the min. of 10 years sentence , he may appeal the Dolis Eventualis judgement. It is strange that JM had to ask him to state what exact jail term he was recommending before he sat down …She may go with a bit less years in her sentence…
I also get that feelng JM doesnt want to punish OP twice. She may give him 10yrs. But because it was a mistake/accident 8yrs suspended in lieu of the suffering he has already endured so far, and to be endured for the rest of his life. Remaining 2yrs will be split. 1yr in some fancy prison hospital, and the other 1yr community service to charity (disabled organisations)
Yep watch her being lenient like that. Funny how she VERY HARSHLY punishes black male offendors, yet for this OP, It seems to hurt her that he spends even single night in jail.
She may decide to be very lenient, let the state appeal the verdict and win, and get the harsh sentence they want. I Judge TM am not sending my pretty boy to jail.
Unfortunately, I think Masipa is just gonna carry on where she left off, and give OP a “fence sitting” sentence, where she`s trying to please both sides. My guess is 8 years with 5 suspended, with Roux recommending some country club.
If you follow her line of reasoning, Nel wont get anything near ten years jail time.
Never meant to kill anyone (?)
First time offender
Charity work
Genuine remorse
I was a little surprised that Nel didn’t go on the offensive since the door for character evidence was now wide open. Maybe he`s saving that card for the appeal?
In the case of Mdunge, you can fully understand his version of getting a fright and letting off ONE shot to kill his wife, but 4 tells a completely different story.
Also I`m pretty sure I read somewhere that his wife`s family didn’t want him jailed and believed his story, and there were no mitigating circumstances; not so here.
Her reasoning must make sense. It mustnt show favour. She mustnt try and confuse us with some case law or some legal latin terms. Us laymen need to understand the reasoning. We need to have confidence in our courts.
The punishment must match the crime. Killing under GROSS and extreme negligence. Not one thing that he did to ensure her safety. Just grabbed a gun and fired a hail of bullets through a locked door.
The deterent factor must be transparent. (NO to house arrest at uncle Arnies house in the plush suburbs) What msg are we sending to other killers?
We still to date dont know/understand his defense. He was very evasive, untruthful and parts of his story dnt make sense. How does society show mercy when he failed to offer the truth to society?
Jail fits the crime here. 10years is quite soft. He can easily get murder on appeal and be put away for 25.
Jail does indeed fit the crime and I am very certain appeals and all goes well then I agree it will be murder on appeal 25 four shots through a locked toilet door and three of them hit Reeva its premeditated murder enough said.
The way the sheet on the bed is creased tells a whole story on it’s own … but I’m not sure what it is.
Clearly there had been recent vigorous activity (sex/struggle?) on the left hand side of the bed, as well as the presence of a stain (?) significant enough to be marked as evidence.
Hi I was re-reading the above posts and looking at the crime photos, the blood trail, etc. and had a bad memory flash.
I had to stop for awhile, too many bad memories, but a lot of this begins to paint a picture of attempted rape to me (having been a victim, I say these things from my own experience).
IF Reeva had not slept with Oscar like her mom June states, then Oscar may have tried to rape her that night.
A man can get very angry if told no from a girl, especially if that guy had been looking forward to something and watching Porn on the internet for some time that night.
This is my scenario, that Oscar knew precisely what he was doing, that each shot was precise:
1, Imagine Oscar just injected himself with what the police first mistook for testosterone injections and finally were made out to be herbal, this certain herb (from the descriptions via internet shopping sites)
The range of action of Testis compositum ampoules extends to the male sex glands and, in combination with the stimulating action on various organ and glandular functions, other ingredients include Spanish fly a purported aphrodisiac. He’d been watching porn on the internet, just injected himself with an aphrodisiac, he was ready to go! And Reeva said NO
We don’t know why, she may have seen the needles and decided to leave. So everything was packed.
Oscar got angry, hurt her (the pulled off and thrown jeans, the blood by the bed and night stand) and she fought back.
He’s physically very strong, if you notice the photos of him after the killing, his muscles are bulging, like an angry bull.
2. She got away and ran to the bathroom and shut the door and locked it. I do believe the neighbors, that they heard Reeva screaming and Oscar yelling.
3. What if the hits to the door and the gunshots were not in exact groups but a mix of hits, kicks and shots?
There was ONE shot that had a split through the wood. But if you notice, that one shot was right by the door handle, he had to get that door open or at least part of it so he could get a better shot. That one may have missed her but he did get an opening to see her better. I do believe she was screaming for her life at this point.
4. What if the second shot was to her mid-section where he’d already hurt her in the bedroom? the damage from that black talon bullet would certainly destroy anything he’d done to her before
5. The third shot, in my scenario, was to make her drop that phone, thus the arm shot,
6. the last shot, pure evil, He wanted her dead so he shot her in the head. Every shot was aimed and precise.
7. He may have told the truth at one stage when he said “She died in my arms”. If she was taking her last breaths, he’d want to make sure those breaths stopped.
8. With the two phones there he could have called for help but what did he do? He called for help from a neighbor Mr Stander and his daughter, who amazingly looks a lot like Reeva and has the same kind of car! (if i read the internet reports correctly). Did they call for help? No, instead they got plastic trash bags, duct tape, rope and towels. Clarisse Stander Viljoen said the rope was to use as a tourniquet, Really? She was dead at this time. I think they were going to dispose of her.
9. The problem was Mr. Johan Stipp, the wildcard. Had to change the plan, had to think quick.
10 Clarisse and by this time Aimee Pistorius, grabbed Reeva’s things and took them, in their words, to keep them safe for Reeva’s mom….Really?
11 A lot was being played out, in the meantime, Carl Pistorius was wiping the drives of Oscar’s computers.
and Oscar amazingly cannot remember the code to his phone to this day.
12 Frank the houseboy had to go. Where and why?
All in all seems like these things were done to hide something, to destroy evidence.
No matter what truly happened, I pray the Steenkamps see better justice in the future trial…
Tess, you may be close, although it is horrific to think they may have intended to dispose of Reeva. That is quite a serious crime where both father and daughter would be in trouble.
I tend to go with Juror 13’s guess that rather than “dispose of the body” he just wanted to get her out of the house (to hospital) so he could start cleaning up or doctoring the scene. It is highly unlikely that the Standers would have agreed to dispose of a body and it was them who told him to put her down and wait for the medics.
Hi William, Just a reply about the Standers’ involvement in helping Oscar. I think part of my reasoning was that, being the first on the scene besides Frank, they did not call for help. And that what Clarisse did help Oscar with was the gathering of ropes, duct tape, trash bags and towels. When she said the rope was to use as a tourniquet, I knew that was very strange. From Prof. Saayman’s autopsy he stated something to the effect that the shot to the arm was “an instant amputation” .. and she was already deceased so why a tourniquet? (my thinking) .
Also, I’d just seen a documentary on the “Secret Scott Peterson Police investigation”. Very interesting. They had been following him for awhile and when they arrested him he also had duct tape, ropes, trash bags, etc. in the trunk of his car and the detectives were noting that these are items used by murderers to help dispose of a body, in this case they knew it was his girlfriend Amber Frey that was most likely his next victim (he also had a map to the house she was staying).
I don’t really believe Oscar looked at Reeva with any care or feelings, she was just and object that he could dispose of easily.
Now both Oscar and his brother Carl have killed two young women and neither of them seem to have any remorse other than for themselves. Two young women dead at the actions of these Pistorius brothers! Horrible and so upsetting!! I hope Mr Nel gets his appeal and wins!
I agree that something certainly does not add up here,Tess. Reeva must have already been dead with a portion of her brain literally blown out of her skull.
In no way am I defending the Standers (whom I do suspect are hiding something) but I can only imagine the kind of panic experienced by them at the horrific sight of Reeva’s broken and bleeding body. Perhaps the attempts to stop the bleeding were them just trying to do something, anything, to help, no matter how impractical or irrational.
It may have been Oscar’s attention to dispose of the body but I do find it a bit of a stretch that ordinary people, no matter how much they idolized OP, would agree to help with this at a moment’s notice. What would they have done? Buried her in a shallow grave somewhere? Nah, that’s just too cloak and dagger, surely?
Aimee and Carice did however remove Reeva’s handbag from the secured crime scene and probably Oscar’s phone as well – two key pieces of evidence. This definitely indicates a cover up of some sort.
I too sincerely hope that the ridiculous verdict and sentence are over-turned.
Hi William! I agree totally and this is just wild speculation. I’ve lived in this old world many years and have seen “normal people” do very strange things.
I think there’s a photo of Clarisse Stander on this website or was and her comparison in looks to Reeva was astounding to me and that, with her driving the same car as Reeva, made me wonder even more what was truly going on.
But we do know all this action happened quickly that night and Oscar had to do something, and he had to get help, not for Reeva! for himself, and we also know he was on the phone to numerous people to help him.
This situation kind of reminds me of the old Hollywood era, if one of their big-name stars got into criminal trouble, the studio would come in and take over, hide evidence and try to get their star out of trouble and it worked many times with the truth only being discovered in later years.
Money was always the reason as it is today. Oscar was the money-maker just like the old Hollywood stars, no-one cared about the victim, then or now, just the cash in their pockets…..
I like your dramatic thinking Tess!
I think the underlying subtext here is that even if people like the Standers had their doubts about OP’s story they probably thought that Reeva must have done something really terrible to upset their darling Oscar and in some way deserved what she got.
I think you’re pretty close, Tess.
I also believe that it was some kind of “sexual rage”. That’s why he can’t come clean and confess. It would be one thing to admit “I lost control in a jealous rage” but completely another to say “I shot her because I was super-horny and she didn’t want to have sex with me….” Because we were denied hearing the pathologist’s report, we do not know if there were any indications of sexual activity that night.
I think that’s why he invented the story about her doing yoga on the carpet. There was probably a struggle on the floor (“fibre on carpet at foot end of bed”) so he needed to explain what Reeva was doing on the floor in case this “fibre” evidence was brought up in court.
It is clear that there was some sort of struggle on the bed and if he had sat on the foot end of the bed to put on his protheses, would the creases on the sheet have looked like they do? I don’t think so. I believe he had his legs on all the time and crouched to fire through the toilet door because the light was on in the bathroom and he must have been aware that neighbours may see him (which they did).
After being attacked by him, Reeva threatened to call the police and that’s when he screamed “so call the police, help, help, help” and “get the fuck outta my house”. He could have chucked her jeans out of the window in his rampage or she planned to jump out of the window, dropped her jeans and then fled into the toilet.
I’m not sure if there was any significant injury to Reeva before the shooting (it makes sense that the blood spatters on the carpet were from when he carried her out rather than an earlier injury) and I doubt whether the shots were specifically aimed (apart from in the general direction of someone seated on the toilet). I think he was in too much of a blind rage for that.
After going through all of this repeatedly in my head … subconsciously really, I came to the conclusion that Reeva was shot because she would not stop SCREAMING ! This plays directly into OP’s not wanting any bad publicity and, of course his narcissistic personality … I believe we have all witnessed his twisted version of reality and how he makes outrageous statements as if they are common/accepted knowledge … I do think OP told Reeva to ‘get the fuck out of my house’ and I am sure Reeva would have if perhaps OP had added “quietly or I will shoot you” to his demand : / … I do not think Reeva ever thought he would shoot her … not in her wildest dreams … I find the truth is often hidden and twisted in wild tales such as the one told by OP. I do NOT believe Reeva had her phone in the toilet room … OP put it there afterwards to make it appear Reeva could have summoned help IF she were in danger but he did not think this thru … As such I think many wondered why Reeva did not simply call the police if she was frightened & locked in the bathroom. This is yet another paradox in OP’s story, meaning if OP was yelling to Reeva to phone the police, & she had her phone why wouldn’t she ?? Perhaps as an after thought when he was seen going back upstairs after people arrived at his house is when this happened. Putting as many “red herrings” as possible into his story benefits him highly I think. Probably something OP has done throughout his life … makes his twisted stories sound better. I do think Reeva peed & then flushed the toilet proving to me she did not believe there was the possibility of her dying … She would use the toilet before a long drive home. As their fighting raged on, once she started the screaming inside his home where others might hear her and come to his house, he needed to stop that noise ! Had she just left w/o the screaming, whatever she said about OP afterwards he would easily be able to dance his way out of with several “old”, and I dare I say “meek/submissive” gf’s to back him up. HOWEVER if there were other witnesses at the time of Reeva’s angst, THAT might be a problem. I think OP panicked when she would not stop engaging him, and then his only goal was to silence the threat to his ever glorified image. He actually said as much at trial didn’t he ?? He said ‘ I had no time to THINK’ … So I think if we review his testimony and story the truth is there, the characters are just switched when necessary. All of OP’s previous gf’s came from an entirely diff background then Reeva. I believe she was more of a common ‘street’ sense type person then the others. In the link above, see how OP says he “needs that” from her for the relationship to work ? He needs to be in complete control of everything they do and it makes him all warm & fuzzy when she ASKS him if they might be able to do something … Quite diff then ‘hey Oz, I would like to go …” as opposed to “baba, CAN WE … ??”
I’ve said this elsewhere – I do believe there was an intruder that night. The “intruder” was an aspect of Reeva that he had never had to deal with before: angry and assertive (the loud female voice heard by neighbour Estelle van der Merwe prior to the shooting) and this threat had to be “neutralized”.
I think it was somewhere else on Juror 13’s excellent blog but I can’t for the life of me remember where!
If you look at the way Reeva expressed herself in her whatsapp messages to OP: “you fucked up a special day for me …. I’m not some bitch who wants to spoil your vibe …, you picked on me incessantly….etc” one gets a very clear picture of an assertive, feisty, mature woman who was not about to put up with OP’s emotional immaturity, selfishness and arrogance. She was a far cry from his previous adoring, star-struck girlfriends and he couldn’t handle that.
Juror13 
Great exhibit photos with explanations captioned…with all this evidence , it did not prove OP intended to kill Reeva.It did cast doubt about OP’s account but not enough to convict him of murder.
It proves his intent to murder someone. A human being is a human being. Even if he didn’t know it was Reeva (and I think it’s pretty darn obvious that he did) that does not somehow make him innocent. He should bear the label “murderer” for the rest of his life and serve an extremely hefty sentence. Masipa failed Reeva. She did not deserve to be riddled with bullets for opening a window in the night. He was not “careless” – he chose to kill. With any luck, the next judge will be a little less taken in by the sobs and snot and see the reality of what this “man” did.
I agree with Helen. If you look at photos 436 and 437, it’s pretty clear he was aiming at someone trapped in a confined space. If they found one bullet hole aimed at the very bottom of the door, then perhaps that might prove he wasn’t intending to kill. But those four bullet holes really are suggestive of something else.
The damaged steel panel on the bath? Was he wielding that bat around before the shooting too? Its not his story.Any ideas?
The police testified that they could not definitively say what caused the dent, so OP was never asked about it on the stand.
To me, it looks like the cricket bat caused that. I definitely believe there was a domestic struggle and there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to back it up. The house reeks of a fight… I don’t believe in that many coincidences.
I also don’t believe in coincidences. And just because the police don’t know what caused a thing, i’m not clear why Oscar cannot be asked for his explanation nonetheless. Surely the more times he has to give a difficult answer, the more difficult his cross-examination is. Why waste good material? Beats me.
The most powerful images for me were the bullet trajectories. If you view the holes in the door it looks more random. If you view the actual paths, however, it looks far from random, as though trying to shoot the “person” on the toilet, and then track them when they fell “sideways/forwards” onto the rack. As it turned out, Reeva was actually standing when he fired A and probably B, but OP did not know where the “person” was. By his own admission, the trajectory of A is not designed to disable an intruder “coming out”.
If you wanted to kill a person you believed was sat on the toilet, those shots would be devastatingly accurate.
So many coincidences – every step of the way as he and Reeva “missed” each other – and then for such a conclusion to come about, with him firing the “right” numbers of bullets to resemble a murder, and then stopping before the remainder is fired. Gah.
As for the bath dent, I think it was more likely to be Oscar kicking it in frustration for some reason, perhaps to try and “get a grip” of the situation he was in a few minutes later. Like punching a wall to try and make yourself focus and think faster – not cave in. Something like that? Can’t see how hitting it with a bat would happen in the course of rowing with Reeva. It wasn’t like she was in the bath! It’s an off target effect that doesn’t seem to be directed at Reeva.
Also of course the Stipps never saw figures moving about engaged in a physical altercation of this type.
Well…not that many coincidences, anyway. 🙂
I agree with DJ that the metal plate was probably kicked in OP’s running amok. There’s a lot of damage to his legs.
Bat or legs, either way, how does that metal plate fit into the intruder story, M’Lady?
Hi and thank you again for all you do for us in the “worldwide courtroom”. Still so depressing that, knowing Judge Masipa saw all the evidence, she gave the verdict she did. Though I have began to wonder more about the assessor Janette Henzen-du Toit and her role in all this. Not sure where I’ve read it (may be from your research!) but isn’t there conflict of interest or bias when someone on the bench is so heavily on one side of the case? This assessor is doing a doctorate on Holistic sentencing! To give a criminal the least sentence possible! Her background as an advocate is for Criminal Defense, in addition to that she is heavily interested in the paraplegic community and may be married into a family that has a paraplegic athlete. (Natalie Du Toit, paraplegic, has a brother and may be married to Ms. Henzen, and they all live in same town!) I began to wonder if, given that Masipa is elderly and quite frankly almost crippled with illness, if Ms. Henzen-du Toit didn’t have a larger role in the verdict and writing the ruling than we know. What went on “Behind the Door” of the judges’ chambers? There was a reporter that noted the wording, phrases, etc. of the verdict was very unlike Judge Masipa. May it not have been the lady assessor? The young man who was the other assessor I don’t believe has much background to speak of, nothing like Ms. Henzen-du Toit. Also has anyone read that this is Judge Masipa’s last case? That was written back in Feb or March. Still a lot of questions we’ll probably never know the answers to, but I have a bad feeling that Barry Roux will get what he wants with the sentence, he got exactly word for word what he wanted in the verdict, that it should be Culpable Homicide and that only Tasha’s incident be considered and that he should be found guilty of that. Amazing…..Sorry this is so long, just one more thing that really really made me so angry was during the reading of the verdict, almost 100% of the time, KENNY OLDWAGE kept staring, smirking, and giggling at Gerrie Nel, it was disgusting! Did anyone else see that? How unprofessional! I’m in my sixties, an older lady, but I wanted to punch him through the computer screen! (No I would never do that but he was infuriating!) We can only HOPE that there is some justice to come, I don’t think so though but now we’re more prepared for it, sadly Masipa will probably end her hitherto lustrous career with this incredibly bad injustice. Again thank you for all your hard work! Greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Tess! 🙂 I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and I share your frustrations!
Hi Tess. Yes, I saw Kenny Oldwadge do that too. His behaviour throughout the trial was incredibly unprofessional – making faces at witnesses, smirking, shaking his head. Roux, at least, managed to treat the case with the gravity it deserved.
Interesting thoughts about the female assessor. You may be on to something. Holistic punishment??? Sounds like just the type of person to be taken in by the likes of Pistorius.
It was also well documented that Masipa has a background of being a social worker, who often dealt with domestic abuse. People were suggesting that she would understand and sympathise with Reeva. But she hardly even mentioned her, thought her text messages were “normal” and obviously bought OP`s tears.
I don’t think we can read too much into the Assessors mindset, when the problem was apparently Masipa`s error in law.
Hi Helen! Yes the “Holistic” punishment was an odd term to me, I had to do some research on that one! From what I’ve found so far, it refers to taking all the circumstances about the person into account, his youth, his family, his disabilities, etc. and incorporate it all into making a “unique” sentence for each person as a whole. (That’s exactly what Roux did if you think about it, he followed that model step by step) It just made me wonder about how much the assessor and the defense worked together??
There are many other links I found as well, researching old newspaper articles from South Africa, there was one very interesting one that I will list here, please note though that I do not know if the Thys Henzen below is related to Janette Henzen:
So that being said, here is what I found:
Janette Henzen (before she married du Toit) worked or lived in Rustenberg (also referenced on her Facebook page).
Her parents names are Thys and Franci Henzen. (From Bleed newpaper article)
Some years ago, a Thys Henzen became a paraplegic as a result of a car accident, then some years after that was arrested for an altercation,(from the newspaper South Africa Today)
while in the jail he was raped by the men in the cell, and was abused by the SAPS police as well.
If this man was related to Janette, it would certainly explain her mindset as far as interest in the paraplegic community and even against the SAPS. She may not be related at all to this Thys Henzen, BUT odds are she probably heard or read about this individual. (not father as I think she is too old, maybe a brother?)
What led me to start this research was the link I found on her Facebook page, “Living without Limbs” under her Favorites.
And at first I was stunned as she’s an assessor for a paraplegic charged with Murder!!
So there is definitely some kind of interest in paraplegia on her part for whatever reason!
And I do think that may tip the scales in favor of Pistorius, how much we’ll never know. But it seems like a conflict of interest (do they have that in S. Africa courts?) especially in a murder trial. The articles about a Thys Henzen are interesting though and may provide the initial interest in this disability though now I’ve read that her husband is the brother of Nanette du Toit, also a paraplegic athlete in S. Africa.
In closing I must say I don’t know anything as fact, all this is from what I’ve read in articles on the internet, still just circumstantial evidence! (ha!)
Have a good day…
Tess
Just a few observations after looking at these very good photos …
There is a tube of Voltaren gel on the closet side bedside table on top of the magazines in front of the gun holster. This pretty much tells me that Oscar was indeed sleeping on the closet side of the bed that night due to his sore shoulder. Also one photo of Oscar of his left profile after the shooting you can see the medical red tape is around his right shoulder blade on the right side of his back (quite a large area).
If you look at the photo of the ladders at the side of the house you can see on the right margin the jeans and they are on a ledge. If you look at the other photo of the jeans they are on the ground with a dog in the picture. I had thought the jeans might have been the way the watch left the house. Put the watch in a pocket and float the jeans out the window … retrieve the watch later while in the back yard and leave the jeans … just a hypothetical … I wonder the order of the photos … were the jeans originally on the ground and someone placed them on the legs or vise versa. Dog may have pulled the jeans off the ledge.
Hi Willy,
I think the combination of the magazine plus the flip flops plus the Voltaren cream prove that Reeva was on the left closest to the sofa. Oscar would not be able to put that cream on his own back, he likely would have Reeva apply it for him.
His t-shirt, iPads, clippers, ammunition… All were on the right side. There is more physical proof that he was on the right. I would have liked to see DNA done on each of those coffee mugs on the nightstands! That could have helped to prove or disprove the sides.
Either way, I don’t think there was much or any sleeping going on that night.
As for the jeans, it seems to me that the position they were found was on the ground. A police photographer would not place them in the manner that was seen, butt up against that brown box, to photograph them. They would have laid them out more clearly. The close up photo of the jeans that I’m referring to is not in this group, it can be found under my blog post for the Van Staden testimony.
Actually, on websleuths there is an accounting of the time that each photo was taken. We can look there to verify the time of each. I say jeans on ground first, then on top of box next to ladders second, but I need to verify that.
Agree completely re: the Voltaren. It would have been close to impossible for Pistorius to apply that himself. Not only because it would be hard to reach, but if his shoulder was stiff, the stretching would have physically hurt. I am certain he’d have got Reeva to do that for him. That doesn’t prove she was sleeping that side, but it makes it means that it’s placement is largely irrelevant.
I find the position of the “slops” interesting. They are together in the middle of the floor. If she was putting them away neatly before walking round the bed, they wouldn’t have been left there – they’d have been placed by the sofa, out of the way. Where they are seems to be in the exact position they would be if she’d slipped them off while sitting on the edge of the bed before getting under the covers.
I am certain she slept on the left hand side of the bed that night.
That picture of Reeva’s shorts is devastating. 😦 So much blood coming from that wound!
Am I right in assuming that the blood on the ground is from her arm and hip wound?
I ask because OP said her arm was on the toilet seat with her head rested on it and in the reconstruction video that is how Aimee was positioned.
I find it odd that he would get her position wrong, like he did with the magazine rack.
I asked Chris Greenland, Ulrich Roux and David Dadic the following question on Twitter a few weeks back, their answers were unanimous…
On his own version, If OP was 100% correct, in that Reeva WAS in bed and an armed intruder HAD entered his bathroom, where does the law stand on OP killing him.
The answer was, guilty of murder because his life was not in danger.
When you add in his gun proficiency test, where he clearly knew when he could and could not shoot, his murder acquittal is even more bizarre.
I asked this question and got no reply. So thanks. Also the South African rugby player who shot dead his daughter after seeing a car being driven away from his house would have been banged up for twenty years if it had have been a thief rather than his daughter. So him actually killing his daughter rather than a thief a was free pass out of a lengthy sentence. It’s strange how the law works but there you go.
With regard Judge Masipa – she still made a complete mess with regard Dolus Eventualis … that’s the main issue … as explained by James Grant elsewhere. There was also an issue with regards of the unlicensed ammunition … as explained by James Grant elsewhere.
Basically as long as the Judge explains clearly their reasoning I can sort of accept it as one must but in this case Judge Masipa failed in her reasoning (see above).
Maybe that is what Judge Massipa will say when she frees OP next week – she will probably say she doesn’t want to punish OP twice … but I don’t think she will get away with that.
Miktal , on this I agree. Judge Masipa allowed the acquittal on this on the technicality that the intent standard to convict is ‘subjective’…and she fell for OP saying he did not intend to kill anyone for that matter” , again Nel failed to cross examine him on that ‘subjective’ issue…He could have asked ” so what was your intention when you fired 4 times thru that door?? to scare someone? to disable him? which ‘trained’ gunman shoots 4x toward a toilet bowl area so small if not to kill?? regardless…the judge did err on this one…
I think if you watch the cross examination on why OP shot, Nel couldn’t have done anymore IMO. He had Oscar right where he wanted him. He even forewarned the court that OP would do exactly what he did; avoid responsibility when it mattered and turn on the waterworks when caught out
The problem with claiming putative private defence, as I see it, is that you have to commit to the intent to kill. OP did this in his Bail and Plea, but on the stand, changed to no intent. There is absolutely nothing to support his explanation of “not intending to kill anyone”
It absolutely beggers belief that Masipa couldn’t see how much the defence was scrambling and completely disorganized after OP`s testimony. It was as clear as day that they were trying to repair the damage by calling witnesses and doing tests so late; it was a joke at times.
Those 4 bullet holes do show a change in aim, which inturn shows direct INTENTION to kill whoever was behind that door. 4 shots was excessive, and he had no reason to justify them, legally. Neither was there any life threatening cause for that action. He knows the fire arms act and failed to follow it on all accounts, and must be legally held liable for its disregard which led to the death of RS. That to me is DIRECT MURDER. Judge and crew got it wrong and have made SA society feel so unsafe. The law does not seem to protect the victims right to life, but rather the perpetrators ‘right’ to give a LUDICROUS version of events. An account accepted as possible even though probability is extremely high that it NEVER happened as he claims. This outweighed by the probabilty that he knew it was the deceased behind that door all along. The proof for murder is in the door. That he knew it was RS is in his testimony.
It is planned murder he intended to kill 4 shots means that. I am sure Gerrie has an appeal planned to put this murderer away where he belongs I don’t know what was going through that judges mind why she accepted his version of events what never happened. IMO she has made SA more dangerous OP is guilty and everyone knows it.
I would not rely on Gerrie Nel for that. In my opinion, his case of intent to kill Reeva was amiss…
I am not at all certain that Nel’s ultimate aim was ever the intent to murder Reeva aspect. I think it was always about eventualis. He’s a very experienced prosecutor – he knew the evidence was shaky and didn’t meet the beyond a reasonable doubt standard. I think he set out to show the kind of man Pistorius is and to demonstrate that, Reeva or not, he intended to kill whoever was behind that door. I think he achieved this very well, and a more sensible judge would have found Pistorius guilty of murder.
Ya Gerrie needs to apologise to OP and reimburse him for legal cost, and mental aggrevation caused. The Steenkamps must reimburse OP for the rare and expensive ammunition he used, as well as the laundry and house cleaning. This is Pistorius people, how dare we even suggest jail.
Watch him get off with a wholly suspended sentence/house arrest/fine/very stern warning to be more careful next time.
Something has been puzzling me for a while about the housekeeper, Frank. Both Johan and Carice Stander said that when they first arrived at Pistorius’s house, the security guard Baba and Frank were outside. When Baba gave evidence, he only mentioned the other security guard who was with him when they drove to Pistorius’s house, and didn’t mention Frank at all. If it really was Frank that Johan and Carice Stander saw (and they both stated categorically that it was Frank), I wonder when it was he actually arrived on the scene. He apparently claimed not to have heard or seen anything, but if it was him who was up and about outside Pistorius’s house, then he was one of the first people on the scene. When did he get there – before/after security arrived? What did he see and hear then?!
Sentencing Hearing Tactics.
To Juror 13 (or anyone else that knows the answer). What happened with respect to the firing of the gun at the restaurant. Did OP friend admit to it. Was the police called? How did the police handle it?
Hi Jason, Darren Fresco took responsibility for the gun going off at Tasha’s, even though it was in Oscar’s hands. The owners of the restaurant testified and stated that they verbally reprimanded the guys and they left shortly after. The police were never contacted. Apparently they knew the owners fairly well, so they gave them a pass.
Oscar’s friends or former friends, Kevin Lerena and Darren Fresco both testified that Oscar asked for the gun to be passed to him under the table. Darren told him it was “one up”. Who knows what the heck happened, but they state that Oscar was fiddling with the gun and it went off and he narrowly missed Kevin’s foot. This was in a restaurant filled with hundreds of people. Crazy!
Of course, Oscar denied that he ever had his finger on the trigger, it magically went off on its own, he denied that Darren ever told him it was “one up”, and he denied that he asked his friend to take the wrap. He denied it all. But his friends told a different story on the stand… one called the truth.
The judge did find him guilty on that count, but dismissed him on the ammo possession count and the sunroof count. Here’s the judgement on that count:
Count 3: Contravention of Section 120(7), alternatively section 120(3)(a) and further alternatively section 120(3)(b) of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000, the accused is found guilty of the second alternative that is the contravention of Section 120(3)(b).
So we’ll have to see if he receives any type of punishment for this. My guess, a fine… to go along with his KP duty for killing a person. It’s appalling. He’ll be waving around those guns again in no time. He lies his ass off in relation to the Tasha’s incident, gets busted by his friends and is found guilty but when it comes to the murder charge… he’s believable. It’s defies logic.
Hi! Well it’s day one of the sentencing phase. I thought I’d heard it all, then during the lady psychologist’s testimony, I thought I have heard it all BEFORE! It was oddly familiar and I started hearing phrases I know I’ve heard in this trial before. But only from the defense witnesses. It was beginning to sound like a recording of the same script by different actors, for example, the big phrase of the day “He was a broken man.” I know that one, it struck me as an odd phrase when I first heard it…..way back in March 2013. During an interview with a close friend (Azzie or something like it) said and I quote from the Mirror:
“Oscar Pistorius is a broken man who thinks of ending his life, a close friend has revealed.” Then in May 2013, a headline from UPI from Uncle Arnold Pistorius: “Oscar Pistorius is “A broken man…” and on and on month after month until the trial….and then we get:
From Johann Stander: He was broken, he was screaming, crying…… right after his testimony
Clarisse Stander Viljoen: He was broken, praying, crying…..
then
From Oscar himself on the stand….I’m not sure M’lady I was broken, I was crying….
From Christina Lundgren He was a broken man M’lady
and today from Dr Hartzenberg Oscar is a broken man.
This is ridiculous! And there’s more, this is just a part of what seems to be rehearsed testimony! Is that even legal? I’m not sure but I’m surprised that no reporter has noticed this, it’s getting to be too ridiculous. I know they have a PR person, Annaliese Burgess, she’s usually on top of these things but she seems to have missed this. Maybe she wrote it and liked how it sounded! Ha! Anyway just wondering if anyone else had noticed and hoping for the best in sentencing! Have a good day!
Someone mentioned it was a farce. This Is the last act. I do get a sense of a certain inevitability about it all. Everything is in line with Judge Masipa saying she doesn’t want to punish OP twice.
Personally I don’t mind what the outcome is but I want the court and Judge Masipa to be honest about the reason given – and her decision to clear OP of Dolus Eventualis and to not make OP accountability for some of his nonsense on the witness stand – was very poor indeed.
Oh yeah… I’ve noticed. I’ve pretty much had enough of the “broken” BS myself. And apparently we’re all a bunch of morons who have spoken negatively about Oscar and now he’s lost his self-belief and future because of us, he can’t sleep because of us, he’s depressed because of all of us… The big bad world, the evil prosecutor and rotten media and misled public has destroyed his poor little old self. Hey guess what Oscar… Fuck you. That’s how I feel about your issues.
“The owners of the restaurant testified and stated that they verbally reprimanded the guys and they left shortly after. The police were never contacted. Apparently they knew the owners fairly well, so they gave them a pass.”
Okay thanks, so basically the restaurant owners were angry but it was all dealt internally because OPs group were friends or good customers and there was no serious outcome. I guess the police wouldn’t have done anything because for South Africa it was a “minor” occurrence given the amount of crime in the country.
I thought something more could be made of it in the sentence hearing, but it seems maybe not.
The way the hearing is going it looks like OP is going to get something like a three year community service – recommended by a state probation officer. That’s the sort of things you see people getting for personal possession of recreational drugs. There appears to be an issue with the state of SA prisons: how well they can cope with the needs of disabled inmates and maybe that is going to be a factor. Now that Judge Masipa has already decided on culpable homicide and not Dolus Eventualis it looks like OP is going to not serve a single day in jail.
It’s all been a bit of a mess. I think what we are seeing in this trial is partly a reflection of the current state of society in South Africa. But it also occurs in all other societies involving the influential and wealthy members of that society. The law is ultimately there to protect them than others and intruders whether mythical or not are perhaps considered fair game if they trespass.
Still I hope there is an appeal with regard the Dolus Eventualis clearance. I feel sorry for all those that are going to be left with a deep sense of injustice.
Masipa is worrying the hell out of me.
Is there some kind of prize for the worst defence witness or something???
Wasn’t it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that Maringa didn’t even understand the charges against OP in recommending the three years of pity sentence? He contradicted her very words to come to his findings, yet she STILL asked questions about the museum work as though it is under consideration!?!
Worrying times indeed. with the appeal, this trial is gonna drag on and on
Hey, lets re-evaluate the sentences of convicted CH offendors while we at it. Reduce their jail time and giv’em correctional supervision. Is OP that special? Was RS life that worthless her killer must be treated like best gift from the heavenly angels?
The Steenkamp parents must take the stand and cry for their daughter in court. They are the real victims. Whatever OP has lost he can regain, and he lost thru his own making. But death cant be reversed, and she didnt ask for it.
Judge, please be fair. It cant be all about OP and his guilt, his remorse, his ptsd, his losses etc. If he doesnt get any jail time to serve, the system is shamefully flawed. He killed, so there must be punishment, IN JAIL.
Oscar is vulnerable without his legs yet he approached danger to take care of it. He doesnt stand down, his own testimony.
Now he is broken and vulnerable and should not face jail, yet he boldly goes into the unkown to kill intruders?
This proves there was no intruder, and he knew it. He would have considered his vulnerability then, as much as he does now.
What would a “good” sentence be & one acceptable to the State?
I am thinking 5 years jail time with no early release. In Britain that would be 10 years because after half the sentence they are considered for parole. This balances the fact that the Judge cleared OP of murder (erroneously in my view – at least for dolus eventualis and the reasoning given).
Anything less than that then I think there will be “trouble”. Personally I think a community service sentence would also be “good” – not because it would be “good” but because it would create such an uproar – there would be societal consequences – which could lead to improvements in the system plus an appeal.
Personally I do believe Judge Masipa needs to face some form of real criticism in the reasoning (& erroneous decision making) she has followed,
The problem with OP is that even if he had intended to kill an intruder (& the evidence points to his intention to kill) one gets the sense that he doesn’t really appreciate the gravity of what has happened & the need to change his life for the betterment of others.
Personally the way things are heading I am thinking Judge Masipa is not going to sentence OP to more than 3 years,
Separate to this I would like to make an allegation about the SA Justice system.
White wealthy people are allowed to shoot dead black trespassers and thieves in practice. I would like to know of any cases in South Africa where a white wealthy person has been convicted of murder and sentenced to jail for shooting dead a black trespasser or thief.
Where did reeva spend Christmas 2012?
With Oscar as per mr. roux. They then went to Capetown for a few days and stopped off to visit Kim….it was not challenged.
Roux: mi lady, he is a first time offender, he has no money, he has suffered for 18 months, he has no legs. Remember it was only culpable homicide … clearly when he fired his rocket launcher through the shop doorway he thought there were black intruders in there, not white women and children.
The seriousness of this crime he needs to get the full 10 years behind bars but nothing hides the fact that in reality he is guilty he knows it his family know it and so does his legal team. This broken man thing is getting on my nerves Reeva’s family is broken for good after their loss they’ll never get her back.
I have listened to the final sentence summing ups by the defence and the state. Whereas I thought the final summing up in the verdict stage of the court case was one – sided in favour of the defence (even though JM botched up in my view dolus eventualis), in the sentencing phase I thought it was more even.
The defence brought up the case of Siyabonga Mdunge, who shot and killed his wife as she opened the bathroom door under circumstances similar to OP. In that case Mdunge was sentenced to 8 years but it was suspended – meaning he didn’t serve time in jail. The State didn’t refute that so Judge Masipa could go for something similar.
Yes the State argued for the suitability of the prison to handle people with disabilities but I think JM would have had to reject the defences claim that SA prison system wouldn’t be able deal with prisoners with disabilities anyway.
It seems to me that the same thoughts she used for “clearing” OP of dolus eventualis, which included a recognition by her, Judge Masipa, that OP suffered anguish because Reeva was shot, and her saying that she didn’t want to make OP suffer twice, earlier in the trial, was NOT countered by the State.
Hence I think that again as ex Judge Greenland mentioned, JM can take a somewhat arbitrary in scope decision in the sentence. That is, for example, give OP 10 years but suspended similar to Mdunge. I think JM has to continue along the lines of her original thinking of not “punishing OP twice” and that he didn’t intend to kill Reeva “let alone” an intruder.
So basically JMasipa is “free” to go harsh or to go lenient. However, although she didn’t take into account the public when she cleared OP of dolus eventualis, I am not sure she can entirely discount the public in the sentence phase. I think she will consider the uproar if she allows OP to go “free”. Hence, I think she will impose a lenient custodial sentence – 3 years maximum in a private medical room or something … but she till might go for a 8 year sentence that is suspended type decision.
ps my own private view was that there was enough in this case to convict for dolus eventualis of the person behind the door.
I would have said in my summing up that while OP was shooting four times through the bathroom door he had in his mind the the thought that he didn’t fire a warning shot because he might have been seriously injured and possibly killed by a ricochet.
There are several other reasoning’s that could have been employed – all of which Judge Masipa was in a position to consider – that could have and should have led to a conviction of the dolus eventualis of the person behind the door.
It is my view that her decision can ONLY be explained by certain unwritten rules that allow “free shots” at trespassers and thieves that are “invariably” black. Once Judge Masipa decided that the State hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that OP knew Reeva was behind the door before shooting … the unwritten rule meant he would automatically not be charged with murder.
Nel did very good in arguing to the court as to the seriousness of the negligence and that the level in this case did border on Dolis Eventualis. He also bought up the things that Masipa found not to make sense, not asking Reeva if she had heard the noise, or not waiting for her to respond to him when he armed himself. He also correctly stated that in fact OP knew what he was doing as he read from the trial transcript ,the answer he gave regarding why he did not shoot a warning shot. He said if he knew that 1 bullet to the shower would recochet and hurt him surely he knew what 4 shots into that small cubicle would do to the person behind the door. To me it was clear that if Nel does not get the min. of 10 years sentence , he may appeal the Dolis Eventualis judgement. It is strange that JM had to ask him to state what exact jail term he was recommending before he sat down …She may go with a bit less years in her sentence…
I also get that feelng JM doesnt want to punish OP twice. She may give him 10yrs. But because it was a mistake/accident 8yrs suspended in lieu of the suffering he has already endured so far, and to be endured for the rest of his life. Remaining 2yrs will be split. 1yr in some fancy prison hospital, and the other 1yr community service to charity (disabled organisations)
Yep watch her being lenient like that. Funny how she VERY HARSHLY punishes black male offendors, yet for this OP, It seems to hurt her that he spends even single night in jail.
She may decide to be very lenient, let the state appeal the verdict and win, and get the harsh sentence they want. I Judge TM am not sending my pretty boy to jail.
Unfortunately, I think Masipa is just gonna carry on where she left off, and give OP a “fence sitting” sentence, where she`s trying to please both sides. My guess is 8 years with 5 suspended, with Roux recommending some country club.
If you follow her line of reasoning, Nel wont get anything near ten years jail time.
Never meant to kill anyone (?)
First time offender
Charity work
Genuine remorse
I was a little surprised that Nel didn’t go on the offensive since the door for character evidence was now wide open. Maybe he`s saving that card for the appeal?
In the case of Mdunge, you can fully understand his version of getting a fright and letting off ONE shot to kill his wife, but 4 tells a completely different story.
Also I`m pretty sure I read somewhere that his wife`s family didn’t want him jailed and believed his story, and there were no mitigating circumstances; not so here.
Her reasoning must make sense. It mustnt show favour. She mustnt try and confuse us with some case law or some legal latin terms. Us laymen need to understand the reasoning. We need to have confidence in our courts.
The punishment must match the crime. Killing under GROSS and extreme negligence. Not one thing that he did to ensure her safety. Just grabbed a gun and fired a hail of bullets through a locked door.
The deterent factor must be transparent. (NO to house arrest at uncle Arnies house in the plush suburbs) What msg are we sending to other killers?
We still to date dont know/understand his defense. He was very evasive, untruthful and parts of his story dnt make sense. How does society show mercy when he failed to offer the truth to society?
Jail fits the crime here. 10years is quite soft. He can easily get murder on appeal and be put away for 25.
Jail does indeed fit the crime and I am very certain appeals and all goes well then I agree it will be murder on appeal 25 four shots through a locked toilet door and three of them hit Reeva its premeditated murder enough said.
Thanks for these very clear pics.
The way the sheet on the bed is creased tells a whole story on it’s own … but I’m not sure what it is.
Clearly there had been recent vigorous activity (sex/struggle?) on the left hand side of the bed, as well as the presence of a stain (?) significant enough to be marked as evidence.
Hi I was re-reading the above posts and looking at the crime photos, the blood trail, etc. and had a bad memory flash.
I had to stop for awhile, too many bad memories, but a lot of this begins to paint a picture of attempted rape to me (having been a victim, I say these things from my own experience).
IF Reeva had not slept with Oscar like her mom June states, then Oscar may have tried to rape her that night.
A man can get very angry if told no from a girl, especially if that guy had been looking forward to something and watching Porn on the internet for some time that night.
This is my scenario, that Oscar knew precisely what he was doing, that each shot was precise:
1, Imagine Oscar just injected himself with what the police first mistook for testosterone injections and finally were made out to be herbal, this certain herb (from the descriptions via internet shopping sites)
The range of action of Testis compositum ampoules extends to the male sex glands and, in combination with the stimulating action on various organ and glandular functions, other ingredients include Spanish fly a purported aphrodisiac. He’d been watching porn on the internet, just injected himself with an aphrodisiac, he was ready to go! And Reeva said NO
We don’t know why, she may have seen the needles and decided to leave. So everything was packed.
Oscar got angry, hurt her (the pulled off and thrown jeans, the blood by the bed and night stand) and she fought back.
He’s physically very strong, if you notice the photos of him after the killing, his muscles are bulging, like an angry bull.
2. She got away and ran to the bathroom and shut the door and locked it. I do believe the neighbors, that they heard Reeva screaming and Oscar yelling.
3. What if the hits to the door and the gunshots were not in exact groups but a mix of hits, kicks and shots?
There was ONE shot that had a split through the wood. But if you notice, that one shot was right by the door handle, he had to get that door open or at least part of it so he could get a better shot. That one may have missed her but he did get an opening to see her better. I do believe she was screaming for her life at this point.
4. What if the second shot was to her mid-section where he’d already hurt her in the bedroom? the damage from that black talon bullet would certainly destroy anything he’d done to her before
5. The third shot, in my scenario, was to make her drop that phone, thus the arm shot,
6. the last shot, pure evil, He wanted her dead so he shot her in the head. Every shot was aimed and precise.
7. He may have told the truth at one stage when he said “She died in my arms”. If she was taking her last breaths, he’d want to make sure those breaths stopped.
8. With the two phones there he could have called for help but what did he do? He called for help from a neighbor Mr Stander and his daughter, who amazingly looks a lot like Reeva and has the same kind of car! (if i read the internet reports correctly). Did they call for help? No, instead they got plastic trash bags, duct tape, rope and towels. Clarisse Stander Viljoen said the rope was to use as a tourniquet, Really? She was dead at this time. I think they were going to dispose of her.
9. The problem was Mr. Johan Stipp, the wildcard. Had to change the plan, had to think quick.
10 Clarisse and by this time Aimee Pistorius, grabbed Reeva’s things and took them, in their words, to keep them safe for Reeva’s mom….Really?
11 A lot was being played out, in the meantime, Carl Pistorius was wiping the drives of Oscar’s computers.
and Oscar amazingly cannot remember the code to his phone to this day.
12 Frank the houseboy had to go. Where and why?
All in all seems like these things were done to hide something, to destroy evidence.
No matter what truly happened, I pray the Steenkamps see better justice in the future trial…
Tess, you may be close, although it is horrific to think they may have intended to dispose of Reeva. That is quite a serious crime where both father and daughter would be in trouble.
I tend to go with Juror 13’s guess that rather than “dispose of the body” he just wanted to get her out of the house (to hospital) so he could start cleaning up or doctoring the scene. It is highly unlikely that the Standers would have agreed to dispose of a body and it was them who told him to put her down and wait for the medics.
Hi William, Just a reply about the Standers’ involvement in helping Oscar. I think part of my reasoning was that, being the first on the scene besides Frank, they did not call for help. And that what Clarisse did help Oscar with was the gathering of ropes, duct tape, trash bags and towels. When she said the rope was to use as a tourniquet, I knew that was very strange. From Prof. Saayman’s autopsy he stated something to the effect that the shot to the arm was “an instant amputation” .. and she was already deceased so why a tourniquet? (my thinking) .
Also, I’d just seen a documentary on the “Secret Scott Peterson Police investigation”. Very interesting. They had been following him for awhile and when they arrested him he also had duct tape, ropes, trash bags, etc. in the trunk of his car and the detectives were noting that these are items used by murderers to help dispose of a body, in this case they knew it was his girlfriend Amber Frey that was most likely his next victim (he also had a map to the house she was staying).
I don’t really believe Oscar looked at Reeva with any care or feelings, she was just and object that he could dispose of easily.
Now both Oscar and his brother Carl have killed two young women and neither of them seem to have any remorse other than for themselves. Two young women dead at the actions of these Pistorius brothers! Horrible and so upsetting!! I hope Mr Nel gets his appeal and wins!
I agree that something certainly does not add up here,Tess. Reeva must have already been dead with a portion of her brain literally blown out of her skull.
In no way am I defending the Standers (whom I do suspect are hiding something) but I can only imagine the kind of panic experienced by them at the horrific sight of Reeva’s broken and bleeding body. Perhaps the attempts to stop the bleeding were them just trying to do something, anything, to help, no matter how impractical or irrational.
It may have been Oscar’s attention to dispose of the body but I do find it a bit of a stretch that ordinary people, no matter how much they idolized OP, would agree to help with this at a moment’s notice. What would they have done? Buried her in a shallow grave somewhere? Nah, that’s just too cloak and dagger, surely?
Aimee and Carice did however remove Reeva’s handbag from the secured crime scene and probably Oscar’s phone as well – two key pieces of evidence. This definitely indicates a cover up of some sort.
I too sincerely hope that the ridiculous verdict and sentence are over-turned.
Hi William! I agree totally and this is just wild speculation. I’ve lived in this old world many years and have seen “normal people” do very strange things.
I think there’s a photo of Clarisse Stander on this website or was and her comparison in looks to Reeva was astounding to me and that, with her driving the same car as Reeva, made me wonder even more what was truly going on.
But we do know all this action happened quickly that night and Oscar had to do something, and he had to get help, not for Reeva! for himself, and we also know he was on the phone to numerous people to help him.
This situation kind of reminds me of the old Hollywood era, if one of their big-name stars got into criminal trouble, the studio would come in and take over, hide evidence and try to get their star out of trouble and it worked many times with the truth only being discovered in later years.
Money was always the reason as it is today. Oscar was the money-maker just like the old Hollywood stars, no-one cared about the victim, then or now, just the cash in their pockets…..
I like your dramatic thinking Tess!
I think the underlying subtext here is that even if people like the Standers had their doubts about OP’s story they probably thought that Reeva must have done something really terrible to upset their darling Oscar and in some way deserved what she got.
I think you’re pretty close, Tess.
I also believe that it was some kind of “sexual rage”. That’s why he can’t come clean and confess. It would be one thing to admit “I lost control in a jealous rage” but completely another to say “I shot her because I was super-horny and she didn’t want to have sex with me….” Because we were denied hearing the pathologist’s report, we do not know if there were any indications of sexual activity that night.
I think that’s why he invented the story about her doing yoga on the carpet. There was probably a struggle on the floor (“fibre on carpet at foot end of bed”) so he needed to explain what Reeva was doing on the floor in case this “fibre” evidence was brought up in court.
It is clear that there was some sort of struggle on the bed and if he had sat on the foot end of the bed to put on his protheses, would the creases on the sheet have looked like they do? I don’t think so. I believe he had his legs on all the time and crouched to fire through the toilet door because the light was on in the bathroom and he must have been aware that neighbours may see him (which they did).
After being attacked by him, Reeva threatened to call the police and that’s when he screamed “so call the police, help, help, help” and “get the fuck outta my house”. He could have chucked her jeans out of the window in his rampage or she planned to jump out of the window, dropped her jeans and then fled into the toilet.
I’m not sure if there was any significant injury to Reeva before the shooting (it makes sense that the blood spatters on the carpet were from when he carried her out rather than an earlier injury) and I doubt whether the shots were specifically aimed (apart from in the general direction of someone seated on the toilet). I think he was in too much of a blind rage for that.
The term “running amok” keeps springing to mind …
Seems they were intimate see here —> https://twitter.com/barrybateman/status/526266658827276288/photo/1
After going through all of this repeatedly in my head … subconsciously really, I came to the conclusion that Reeva was shot because she would not stop SCREAMING ! This plays directly into OP’s not wanting any bad publicity and, of course his narcissistic personality … I believe we have all witnessed his twisted version of reality and how he makes outrageous statements as if they are common/accepted knowledge … I do think OP told Reeva to ‘get the fuck out of my house’ and I am sure Reeva would have if perhaps OP had added “quietly or I will shoot you” to his demand : / … I do not think Reeva ever thought he would shoot her … not in her wildest dreams … I find the truth is often hidden and twisted in wild tales such as the one told by OP. I do NOT believe Reeva had her phone in the toilet room … OP put it there afterwards to make it appear Reeva could have summoned help IF she were in danger but he did not think this thru … As such I think many wondered why Reeva did not simply call the police if she was frightened & locked in the bathroom. This is yet another paradox in OP’s story, meaning if OP was yelling to Reeva to phone the police, & she had her phone why wouldn’t she ?? Perhaps as an after thought when he was seen going back upstairs after people arrived at his house is when this happened. Putting as many “red herrings” as possible into his story benefits him highly I think. Probably something OP has done throughout his life … makes his twisted stories sound better. I do think Reeva peed & then flushed the toilet proving to me she did not believe there was the possibility of her dying … She would use the toilet before a long drive home. As their fighting raged on, once she started the screaming inside his home where others might hear her and come to his house, he needed to stop that noise ! Had she just left w/o the screaming, whatever she said about OP afterwards he would easily be able to dance his way out of with several “old”, and I dare I say “meek/submissive” gf’s to back him up. HOWEVER if there were other witnesses at the time of Reeva’s angst, THAT might be a problem. I think OP panicked when she would not stop engaging him, and then his only goal was to silence the threat to his ever glorified image. He actually said as much at trial didn’t he ?? He said ‘ I had no time to THINK’ … So I think if we review his testimony and story the truth is there, the characters are just switched when necessary. All of OP’s previous gf’s came from an entirely diff background then Reeva. I believe she was more of a common ‘street’ sense type person then the others. In the link above, see how OP says he “needs that” from her for the relationship to work ? He needs to be in complete control of everything they do and it makes him all warm & fuzzy when she ASKS him if they might be able to do something … Quite diff then ‘hey Oz, I would like to go …” as opposed to “baba, CAN WE … ??”
I’ve said this elsewhere – I do believe there was an intruder that night. The “intruder” was an aspect of Reeva that he had never had to deal with before: angry and assertive (the loud female voice heard by neighbour Estelle van der Merwe prior to the shooting) and this threat had to be “neutralized”.
@william – where did you post what you wrote william … I would luv to read … thx !
I think it was somewhere else on Juror 13’s excellent blog but I can’t for the life of me remember where!
If you look at the way Reeva expressed herself in her whatsapp messages to OP: “you fucked up a special day for me …. I’m not some bitch who wants to spoil your vibe …, you picked on me incessantly….etc” one gets a very clear picture of an assertive, feisty, mature woman who was not about to put up with OP’s emotional immaturity, selfishness and arrogance. She was a far cry from his previous adoring, star-struck girlfriends and he couldn’t handle that.