The secret to commiting the perfect murder, killing someone and getting away with it, is to become a celebrity first. The media wave yesterday and today is that Pistorius is suddenly vindicated by the inarticulate policeman who could not cope with a very glib defence lawyer. It is like watching “Chicago” for real.
Botha was bamboozled by the defence counsel into saying that the police had no evidence that contradicted Pistorius’ version of events. But he had plainly given just such evidence – for example the height and downward angle of the shots indicating Pistorius was wearing his artificial legs. Pistorius had to walk right past the bed where he claims to have believed Steenkamp was to get to the place where he fired the shots, if he told the truth about where he was coming from. He did not bother to check on Steenkamp. He took the revolver from a holster by Steenkamp’s side of the bed. All of that contradicted Pistorius’ account of events. That a policeman was not verbally dexterous enough to put it together under pressure does not alter the facts.
Actually the prosecution had already made the most vital point right at the start of the trial. Even if the person locked in the toilet (and it appears it was a small discreet toilet, not a bathroom) had been a burglar, it would still be murder to pump four bullets in to them. Not to mention the fact that he made, by his own account, no attempt to ascertain who was in the toilet or where Steenkamp was.
Violence against women in South Africa, and gun murder, are both at epidemic levels. Anywhere else it would be astonishing that both the lead policemen and Pistorius himself had been involved in other incidents of shooting at people in the last two years.
I have always held that prison as a punishment should only be given to those who are an active danger to others. Even if you accept every word of Pistorius’ account, he should be in prison for it. I have a sinking feeling he will not be.
Decision made, and in keeping with Establishment traditions of respect for hyper-competitive success and celebrity fame.
Nevermind, she was not his wife which makes it all the more likely this was rage and murder. Practiced couples will work out some kind of conflict resolution mechanics. But these heavy “in-love” relationships can be very ego-sensitive and result in extreme volatility and rage. This seems to me to be the ‘human’ context here.
Ben, i sense that Glenn lives in a world of psychological freedom. Nothing wrong with that, that’s good! We need more of that.
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Glenn, glad that ZOOKD detected that i’m still alive and kickin’
Stay well, all
The following is an example of just how poor a taste some people have when it comes to their supposed sense of “humour”:
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Surely Oscar Pistorius can’t be the first bloke to wake up legless on Valentine’s Day and shoot a load into his girlfriend’s face while he was imagining she was someone else?
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I’m fully confident nobody here would see anything amusing in that.
Glenn (‘The Count’) : “I’m fully confident nobody here would see anything amusing in that.”
Right you are. Humour has it’s place – but not on this blog.
Pistorius must live with conscience, Steenkamp father says
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21558901
Mr Steenkamp says only Oscar Pistorius and God know what really happened
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius “will have to live with his conscience” over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, her father has said.
Barry Steenkamp was speaking a day after the Paralympic champion was freed on bail pending his trial.
Mr Pistorius, 26, admits shooting Ms Steenkamp, 29, but denies murder, saying he mistook her for an intruder.
“If it didn’t happen the way he says it did he must suffer and he will suffer,” her father told Beeld newspaper.
“It does not matter how much money he has and how good his legal team is, he will have to live with his conscience,” Mr Steenkamp said.
“But if he speaks the truth, I can perhaps some day forgive him,” he added.
/..
Pistorius bail conditions
Must hand over 1 million rand: 100,000 rand in cash up front, and proof that the rest is available
Must turn in passports and any guns that he owns
Cannot leave Pretoria without permission from probation officer, nor can he return to his home
Forbidden to take drugs or drink alcohol
Must report to police station between 07:00 and 13:00 every Monday and Friday
Now the Pistorius brother is on a charge of causing the death of a woman by dangerous driving in 2010. It is now 2013? Why the delay?
‘The charges against Carl Pistorius over an accident involving his car in which a woman on a motorcycle died date back to 2010 but have only just emerged, local media reports say.
They were confirmed to the BBC by Pistorius family lawyer Kenneth Oldwage.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21563911
The wheels of justice in SA do grind exceedingly slowly and strangely.
To refresh everyone’s memories and in resposne to Arbed’s question, Jamie Shea, characterised in the media at the time as “a Londoner” (at which point, one haf-expected him to break into song) was on TV a lot, as the spokesman for NATO, during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, specifically the bombing of Serbia during the Kosovo conflict of 1999.
Interesting, that these people often seem to have affectionate nicknames like ‘Rummy’ (for Donald Rumsfeld), ‘Condy’ (for Condoleeza Rice) and so on. PR, hard at work. Think of the head of MI6 in his Speedos. It humanises the prosecution of mass killing.
Hey Suhayl – good to see you’re still around! Shame we don’t see so much of you these days, I imagine you’re keeping yourself busy. Entirely off-topic (which is probably OK given the age of this thread), but given our shared fondness for stringed instruments, perhaps you’d like to hear a small sample of this album from a mate over in the US:
http://sokoguitar.com/
Take care, hope all is well.
Reeva Steenkamp was pregnant?
“In what could potentially be the biggest bombshell to date in the Oscar Pistorius murder case, sources who are reportedly close to the investigation have alleged that the South African sprinter’s girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, is believed to have been pregnant at the time of her death.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/reeva-steenkamp-may-have-been-pregnant-time-her-death-alleges-national-enquirer-1103126
The PR firm who act for Pistorius have said that the substance found in his bedroom was Testis Compositum which he took for ‘muscle recovery’. Details herewith!
http://www.homotoxicology.net/matmed/combo/Ind4lgrh.htm
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