The story has been prominent in the press this week as there was the funeral of Ms Steenkamp and court proceedings began. As Oscar Pistorius is released on bail awaiting the next hearing, set for 4th June we take a look at the arguments put forward by both the defence and prosecution in the case.
What really happened?
Defence
It was described in court as being in the early hours of Valentine's Day morning when Mr Pistorius mistook his girlfriend as an intruder. He had risen from the bed to bring a fan in from the balcony area, upon his return he heard a noise in the bathroom and believed it to be an intruder. Being without his prosthetics made him feel 'extremely vulnerable' in the situation and he felt he had no time to get them on before dealing with the threat. He picked up his 9mm gun and went to the bathroom to confront the intruder while allegedly calling to his girlfriend, who he believed was still in bed, to call the police.
It is understood that the 'intruder' had hidden in the toilet, which is separated from the rest of the bathroom through another lockable door. In his panic and their being an intruder in the house and his feeling vulnerable, Pistorius shot at the intruder (in the toilet) four times, three shots of which hit his target. Once realising Ms Steenkamp was not in the bedroom and had in fact been using the toilet he attached his prosthetics and broke into the toilet with a cricket bat, before carrying his victim downstairs where she died.
Prosecution
Many of the events brought to light by the defence were questioned by the prosecution. The only thing both parties agreed on was the number of bullets shot and the number of bullets which hit the victim. The prosecution firstly argued that a witness had heard an argument occuring in the house before the gunshots were heard and that Ms Steenkamp was actually hiding in the toilet from the defendent following the nights argument.
They also stated that although it was dark there was no way in which Oscar Pistorius could uncover the weapon from under the bed without noticing that his girlfriend was not laying there because the gun's holster was found her side of the bed; suggesting he would have to have bent down her side of the bed to locate the weapon. The angle of the shots suggest that Mr Pistorius had in fact already strapped on his prosthetics before taking shot at the toilet door, as Detective Botha testified that he thought the bullets had been fired "down" through the door into the victim.
Finally the prosecution told that there were four mobile phones which were seized at the property, none of which were used to call police or paramedics; but the defendants lawyers told the court that another phone was used to call for medical help and to contact a security guard.
Other interesting information
- Oscar Pistorius is a sprint runner from South Africa and competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics. He had both legs amputated below the knee when he was only 11 months old. His nickname is Blade Runner.
- What was also interesting to discover in today's news was that his older brother, Carl Pistorius, was also facing homicide charges in South Africa over a car crash which caused the death of a female biker. It is important to note that the accident which took place in 2010 has no link with the investigation into Oscar Pistoius' case.
- Detective Botha has recently been removed from the inquiry following the discovery that he was facing seven charges of attempted murder himself for an incident in 2011.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in the investigations and case concerning the killing of Reeva Steenkamp; and I hope that her family get to learn the truth about what happened on 14th February which led to her unfortunate death, whichever side of the story it may be.
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