dagblog - Comments for "Oscar Pistorius, His Girlfriend, and His Gun"

Not everyone surprised at

artappraiser — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 08:04:45 +0000

In reply to Oscar Pistorius, His Girlfriend, and His Gun

Not everyone surprised at Oscar Pistorius' fall from grace
By Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick, CNN Special Investigations Unit, March 7, 2013

[....] "Here, I think, you had a troubled athlete," said South African sports journalist Graeme Joffe. "Not so much this incredible role model for the rest of the world -- no question about that -- but deep down, this was a troubled athlete."

Joffe is one of the few South African journalists who has been critical of Pistorius. He said the PR machine behind the man they call Blade Runner has all but made him untouchable.

"So many incidents have happened and they've been well documented over the last five or six years with Oscar Pistorius," said Joffe, who worked at CNN in the 1990s. "These kinds of cases have disappeared."

The South African media has long adored Pistorius, some would say even protected him, by minimizing his problems. Yet, some of his friends and colleagues have cast doubt on the idyllic image of Pistorius portrayed by the press.

"It's like we were waiting for something like this to happen," said Marc Batchelor, a South African soccer player who socialized with Pistorius in South Africa's glamor and sports circles.

Batchelor described Pistorius as someone who "had a trip switch," quick to get angry and fight. Pistorius caused "a lot of problems," he said [....]

I was just thinking that this

artappraiser — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:22:38 +0000

In reply to And as the world

I was just thinking that this news is less devastating in their system than it would be in ours because he won't be tried by a jury but by a judge and two magistrates. Though it's still pretty pitiful and I can imagine the judge and magistrates struggling to find a line where they aren't just punishing law enforcement for incompetence and forgetting all about the victim. There are so many outrageous things besides the simple fact of assigning this guy--leaving a bullet behind, not getting the cell phone used....

Got hints of something similar to the OJ case, where in the initial investigation, responding cops are eager to believe the celebrity and don't take the crime scene seriously, they are influenced by their knowledge of the celeb, that "this is a decent person, not a criminal." Which is, ironically, how we often wish cops would approach citizens in general.

And as the world

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:21:27 +0000

In reply to I suppose they will try to

And as the world turns...these are the days of our lives. New lead investigator appointed by the prosecution...

http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/8970191/lead-investigator-oscar-pistorius-case-replaced

Ya mean facing charges for attempted murder is a deal-breaker for being lead investigator in a murder case?

I suppose they will try to

AmericanDreamer — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:27:09 +0000

In reply to The prosecution is a pitiful

I suppose they will try to work around it--what else can they do? But when the lead detective for the prosecution turns out to be facing seven charges of attempted murder himself, yes, that would seem to fall into "pitiful mess" territory.

From the never-sensationalizing, just the facts ma'am "yahoo expert" Martin Rogers, earlier today, at: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--lead-detective-in-oscar-pistorius-case-faces-his-own-attempted-murder-charges-084528141.html

Oscar Pistorius' murder case took a sensational twist Thursday when it was revealed that the chief investigator who analyzed the scene of Reeva Steenkamp's fatal shooting faces seven counts of attempted murder charges himself.
Hilton Botha, whose stumbling and at times incoherent evidence on day two of Pistorius' bail hearing gave the Blade Runner's case a serious boost, was allegedly one of three drunk police officers who opened fire on a mini-bus taxi full of passengers in 2011, according to South Africa's Eyewitness News.

According to Botha, the shooting took place as part of the investigation into the murder of Denise Stratford, a Girl Scout leader whose body was discovered stuffed into a drain in 2011. Botha and colleagues were tracking the suspect and as part of their inquiries fired at the mini-bus when it failed to pull over when requested.
Botha was arrested at the time due to the charges, which were subsequently dropped, before it emerged Thursday that they had been reinstated.

"There was a decision taken by the director of public prosecution's office to charge the members, each one of them, with seven counts of attempted murder," said police spokesman Neville Malila. "That was the number of people that were in the taxi."

And he shot her in the head

artappraiser — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:53:44 +0000

In reply to Yes, but it's not at all the

And he shot her in the head too, right? You don't do that by accident.

Where her body got hit certainly was "by accident," unless he has X-ray vision like Superman. Both sides apparently agree she was shot through a locked bathroom door. That was repeatedly reported all along, and Pistorius described that in his statement yesterday, and today asked repeatedly by Roux if he found anything at the scene inconsistent with the account presented by Pistorius in court on Tuesday, Botha confessed that he had not.

Yes, but it's not at all the

Orion — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:06:41 +0000

In reply to There's something much deeper

Yes, but it's not at all the same thing as your "drugs influence spree killings" or "people everywhere are going crazy" topic.

I feel like I need to defend myself against that. Are you sure there was no drug influence?

Look - drugs, especially the class of stimulant drugs that are almost always involved in alot of violent crime, are just really, really dangerous. There are pretty solid reforms that could be put in really quickly to make sure that mind altering drugs, at least the sort I have been writing about in my presence here, are not as freely available as they are now. They certainly shouldn't be advertised on television with cartoon bouncy faces as if they're going for the Teletubbies demographic. I mean seriously.

Crimes of passion have always been with us (we know the incidence of them is always worse when there is little rule of law to deter them; we learned that over thousands of years.) Guns and guns owned by civilians have not always been with us.

Yeah.And athletes also weren't juiced up on steroids. You can tell that because today's athletes actually look physically different than they did just decades ago.

A cavaet: we do not know that Pistorius committed a crime of passion yet and we do not know whether he was a domestic partner abuser, either; his story that he mistook her for an intruder may be true.

Well, that is actually very possible. He is a famous influential man, correct? That probably leads to a good deal of paranoia and paranoia plus firearms equal this.

Even if he was paranoid due to crazed fans and was on high alert though, he pulled the trigger. A shotgun wouldn't have been as easy to fire like that. And he shot her in the head too, right? You don't do that by accident.

The prosecution is a pitiful

artappraiser — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:28:53 +0000

In reply to Oscar Pistorius, His Girlfriend, and His Gun

The prosecution is a pitiful mess but they have found evidence suggestive of Pistorius being a hothead in the past:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/20/oscar-pistorius-case-police-...

http://www.theonion.com/artic

Orion — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:03:41 +0000

In reply to Oscar Pistorius, His Girlfriend, and His Gun

http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-doesnt-even-know-who-to-admire-an...

It does sound out there, and

Donal — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:54:02 +0000

In reply to Those leaks are very much up

It does sound out there, and only the rags are going with it, but Forbes adds another odd snippet:

Pistorius, meanwhile, is claiming he forgot Steenkamp was staying the night, and shot the model after mistaking her for an intruder.

Two Simple Words: "I ... forgot."

Those leaks are very much up

artappraiser — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:03:14 +0000

In reply to If true, the claim that her

Those leaks are very much up in the air, and the related intrigue is interesting in itself:

Oscar Pistorius case: bloodied cricket bat is key evidence, paper claims
Newspapers report new details in death of Reeva Steenkamp, citing 'sources close to the investigation', although police deny leaking information

By David Smith in Johannesburg, The Guardian, 17 Feb. 2013

The mystery over South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius's role in the killing of the model Reeva Steenkamp has deepened amid a series of claims and counter-claims about what happened at his home in Pretoria last week.

South African newspapers reported a series of dramatic revelations about the case, in which Steenkamp was shot four times. Police denied leaking the details and Pistorius's agent refused to comment.

A police spokeswoman could not explain how the claims emerged but did not deny them. "We are not commenting on anything in the newspapers today as the case is still before the court," she said. "They are insinuating they got the information from the police. They did not."

Medupe Simasiku, of the national prosecuting authority, said the alleged leaks did not necessarily affect the court case as "the evidence [published] might be wrong".

The well-respected City Press newspaper reported that a cricket bat covered in blood was found at Pistorius's home and is the central piece of evidence against him [....]

And see:

Pistorius family disappointed by 'sensationalist' media reports
Father of South African athlete questions integrity of newspapers that have reported claims about evidence found at scene

By David Smith in Johannesburg, guardian.co.uk, 18 Feb. 2013

The family of Oscar Pistorius have criticised the media for sensationalist coverage of the murder case against him.

Henke Pistorius, 59, the South African Olympic and Paralympic star's father, said he was "very disappointed" by weekend press reports that a blood-stained cricket bat was a vital piece of evidence in the killing of the athlete's girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp.

"I'm disappointed in the integrity of some of the newspapers," Henke told the Guardian [.....]

Hundreds of miles away in Port Elizabeth, Steenkamp's family are preparing for her funeral, also on Tuesday. A private ceremony at a local crematorium is planned, closed to the public and media.

"We're just taking things one day at a time," Steenkamp's brother Adam was quoted as saying by the Associated Press (AP). "But at the moment it's family coming together and the one person who would be the strongest, who held us all together, is unfortunately not here anymore and that's my sister."

Steenkamp's mother paid tribute to her daughter. June Steenkamp told the Times of South Africa: "Why? Why my little girl? Why did this happen? Why did he do this?

"Just like that she is gone. In the blink of an eye and a single breath, the most beautiful person who ever lived is no longer here.

"All we have is this horrendous death to deal with … All we want are answers … answers as to why this had to happen, why our beautiful daughter had to die like this."

Pistorius's family deny he committed murder, though they have not addressed whether he shot her. South African media reports suggest that Pistorius claims he mistook her for an intruder in his home.

In an email to AP on Monday, Pistorius's longtime coach said he believed the killing was an accident. "I pray that we can all, in time, come through this challenging situation following the accident and I am looking forward to the day I can get my boy back on the track," Ampie Louw wrote [.....]

which makes me wonder about the "crushed skull " thing. It's hard to sync the Steenkamp family reaction here with that, I would think they would be reacting a little differently if they had just buried a body with a crushed skull, unless they are an exceptionally calm group.