Oscar Pistorius charged with murder

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 1:22pm

This is such a bummer. The guy was such an inspiration on so many levels.


NYT Article

[tazber]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 2:10pm

But the question remains....is he a replicant?



(seriously though, it is extremely disappointing)

Updated On: 2/14/13 at 02:10 PM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 2:28pm

I was stunned when I read this today.

[wexy]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 2:40pm

its a bummer for his girlfriend. **** him.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 3:07pm

Updated and somewhat amplified article.


NYT Article

[canmark]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 7:53pm

The man was a hero of Olympic proportions. So sad to read about this (and about his great interest in guns).

Condolences to the family of Reeva Steenkamp, losing her so young in what appears to be murder.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 7:58pm

Well that is one way to ruin a great human interest story. Wow. I kept remembering my co-workers in the city talking about how great his story was and how he was the 'spirit' of the Olympic Games.

RIP to the girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and condolences to her family.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 2/14/13 at 9:22pm

It really upset me to read about this. Prayers for her family.

[canmark]

Posted: 2/17/13 at 7:40pm

Not looking good for Pistorius. Sounds like he's a Jekyll/Hyde-type monster.

Apparently Reeva Steenkamp's head had been battered and a bloody cricket bat was found in Pistorious' home. If the blood matches, then this suggests that he battered her before shooting her through the bathroom door--it's suggested that she may have been trying to escape him by locking herself in the bathroom. The 'intruder' alibi seems untenable.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/9876309/Oscar-Pistorius-murder-charge-bloodied-cricket-bat-central-piece-of-evidence-against-him.html

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A close friend of Pistorius told how the athlete called him moments after Miss Steenkamp was shot and told him: “My baba, I’ve killed my baba. God take me away.”

Justin Divaris told the Sunday People: “Oscar called me at 3.55am saying that Reeva had been shot. I said to him, 'What are you talking about? I don’t understand you.’ He then repeated himself — 'There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva.’?”

According to City Press, Pistorius also called his father and sister and asked them to go to the house at about 3.20am on Thursday.

When they arrived, it said, he was carrying his girlfriend’s body down the stairs — her head and arms were “dangling”, it added.

* * *

According to a source cited by City Press, Miss Steenkamp was wearing a nightdress, an overnight bag was found at the house and her iPad was on the bedroom floor.

“It was clear that both of them had slept in the bed,” the source added.

The holster of a 9mm pistol similar to the weapon recovered by police was found on one side of the bed, the paper said. A bullet casing was also reportedly found in the bedroom and police are investigating whether Pistorius fired one shot and then “chased” Miss Steenkamp to the bathroom.

“The suspicion is that the first shot, in the bedroom, hit her in the hip,” one source was quoted as saying. “She then ran and locked herself in the toilet. She was doubled over because of the pain. He fired three more shots. She probably covered her head which is why the bullet also went through her hand.”
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[canmark]

Posted: 2/18/13 at 9:11am

And now steroids enters the picture.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-was-involved-in-freak-gun-accident-just-weeks-before-girlfriend-was-shot-as-reports-claim-police-are-investigating-steroid-use-8499113.html

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/18/13 at 9:56am

My heart goes out to that poor girl. What a horrible, horrible way to die. If the allegations against Pistorius turn out to be true then he should be given the maximum penalty allowable by South African law.

If the allegations turn out to be true then how unfortunate that she got herself involved with a monster.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 8:07am

So--you wake up in the middle of the night and hear sounds of someone in your apartment.

Your girlfriend--who slept over and was in bed next to you--is NOT in the bed.

The bathroom door is closed. (Your girlfriend, remember, WAS in bed next to you, but is not there now)

Your first action is to fire four bullets into the closed bathroom door?

Seems to me the dude's either ***completely*** insane or a monster.

(Also a fantastic illustration of how safe we would all be if we just gave guns to everybody)

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 8:15am

The guy is a monster. Several people have come forth to say they heard some sort of a dispute between the two before the shooting and there have been reports in the past of domestic altercations.

There was a bloody club found in the apartment.

The way the authorities are piecing it together:

They had an altercation.

Steenkamp with no other option of escape locked herself in the small bathroom.

Pistorius then takes the gun walks over to the door and shoots her through it.

[Huss417]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 8:30am

This is the latest news from the courthouse this morning.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--lawyers-square-off-in-oscar-pistorius--bail-hearing-095441840.html

[sabrelady]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 8:13pm

Burglar in the Bathroom - the next R Kelly installment?

[canmark]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 7:38am

Photo gallery from the Daily Mirror shows the floor plan of Pistorius' house and an illustration of the crime scene:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/oscar-pistorius-sixty-minutes-non-stop-1719532

Updated On: 2/20/13 at 07:38 AM

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 10:13am

Very sad...I was so caught up with him this summer, as my sister is in a wheelchair.

I was hoping that this would be a mistake...but it certainly doesn't look that way...

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 6:20am

The lead detective in Oscar Pistorius case faces attempted murder charges!

Hilton Botha,the lead detective in Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius' murder case is himself facing attempted murder charges for opening fire on a minibus containing seven people in 2011, South African police said Thursday.

The charges were provisionally withdrawn, but were reinstated on Wednesday - at the behest of the state prosecutor - after Botha had taken the stand against Pistorius in Pretoria's main magistrates court.
SOURCE

[sabrelady]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 3:56pm

There is no jury system in SA. U plead b4 a judge. and given the way the law is there..

Apparently all u hafta do in SA to get away w murder is make sure the body is in yr home and then claim u "thought it was an intruder." Stand and Defend on steroids.

He'll get off.

[canmark]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 7:10pm

The Guardian's blog of the court proceedings makes for riveting (although lengthy) reading. Scroll down to the 2:43pm post for the day's summary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2013/feb/21/oscar-pistorius-bail-hearing-day-three-live-coverage

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 7:15pm

An Op-Ed essay in the Times by a S. African talk-radio host with some interesting perspectives on how the case both does/does not conform to their national narrative.




Cry, the Misogynistic Country

Updated On: 2/21/13 at 07:15 PM

[Playbilly]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 10:31pm

As untidy as it is to say, this guy had to put on his legs to get around, no? He couldn't have been the most nimble person to get around and react quickly to an intruder.

Do they have the electric chair down there?

[Addison D.]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 10:48pm

He has made it clear that he is basing his defense, in part, on the "fear" in which he lives due to his lack of mobility.

Once he makes his mobility a central issue--I can't see where there is anything 'untidy' about exploring the topic.

[~tiny~]

Posted: 2/21/13 at 11:07pm

Since when does prettiness/glamour and/or overcoming disability make one immune to evil? Agree with wexy and carlos.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/22/13 at 7:37pm

CNN was reporting yesterday that at least one of the shell casings was found INSIDE the bathroom, casting doubt on Pictorius' claim that he only fired through the door (at the imagined burglar).

Of course, my immediate thought was, "What? They couldn't count the holes in the door?"

But I have a question for those who think every individual has a right to have guns in his or home: doesn't that individual then have an obligation to take special care not to shoot his or her guests, roommates, relatives, etc.? A right to bear arms is not the same as a right to shoot blindly in a darkened house or apartment.