Pistorius and girlfriend were planning a future together, athlete's uncle says

2013-02-17 08:58:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (BNO NEWS) -- South African athlete Oscar Pistorius and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who he is accused of shooting to death earlier this week, were planning a future together and his family strongly rejects the prosecutor's charge of premeditated murder.

Arnold Pistorius, the uncle of the popular track star, read a short statement outside his home in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, and said the entire family is in "a state of total shock" about the week's events. "Firstly about the tragic death of Reeva who we had all got to know well and care for deeply over the last few months," he said.

Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model who featured in men's magazines and was well-known in South Africa for appearing in numerous commercials, had been dating Oscar Pistorius since November 2012. She was shot four times on the morning of Valentine's Day while at the home of the Olympic athlete.

"All of us saw at first hand how close she had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were," Arnold Pistorius said on Saturday. "They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time. Oscar, as you can imagine, is also numb with shock as well as grief."

The uncle said the family is grieving over Steenkamp's death, but said the family is also battling to come to terms with the star being charged with premeditated murder. "Words cannot adequately describe our feelings," he said. "The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by this unimaginable human tragedy and Reeva's family have suffered a terrible loss."

Oscar Pistorius broke down and sobbed in court Friday as prosecutors charged him with premeditated murder during an initial hearing. He did not enter a plea and will return to court on Tuesday for a bail hearing, but a statement from his management later said the athlete disputes the murder in "the strongest terms."

Arnold Pistorius echoed that statement on Saturday, saying the family is trying to be strong and supportive to Oscar. "We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the State's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refuses any possibility of a premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all," he said.

Police have released few details about Thursday's incident. One theory suggests Oscar Pistorius confused Steenkamp with a burglar when she tried to surprise him for Valentine's Day, which she wrote about hours earlier on the social networking website Twitter. "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?" she wrote in one message, later adding that "it should be a day of love for everyone."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2013-02-17

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/details-tragedy-emerge-pistorius-case-per-south-african-175122833--oly.html

"The paper cites a source near the police which indicates that Steenkamp was sitting on the sink when shot.

So he shot her 4 times thru the bathroom door as she sat in the bathroom sink.

Its not looking good for Oscar.

My sympathies to the Steenkamp family.

I heard the same thing (4 shots through a bathroom door while she was sitting on the sink). Yeah I would like to hear how he tries to argue a defense around that.

The house is in the most secure estate in the country (so less reason to be jumpy about people breaking in), the police had been called for a number of domestics in the past, there are reports that the neighbours heard shouting in the lead up to the shooting, she was locked in the bathroom (just about every man in a long-term relationship knows that this is just where women go when they don't want to continue the discussion....bathroom door closed=conversation closed) and he fired through the door.

I found the story to be a little suspect from the beginning and nothing is emerging bar his family members saying he didn't do it to steer me away from that feeling.

He shot her 4 times through the bathroom door, if that's not premeditated murder then what is ?

"I hope you are not sitting on the sink. I have warned you about that before. I will be really angry if you are sitting on the sink. It is not designed to be sat on.

"What if I am sitting on the sink."

"Right, I did warn you."

BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

I wonder where they'll attach the ball and chain?

He shot her 4 times through the bathroom door, if that's not premeditated murder then what is ?

Shooting trough an open door at a person, knowing exactly where she is.

An off-topic post has been deleted.

<snip>

she was locked in the bathroom (just about every man in a long-term relationship knows that this is just where women go when they don't want to continue the discussion....bathroom door closed=conversation closed) and he fired through the door.

<snip>

May I suggest a pretty good defence argument?

They had a row. She locked herself in the bathroom.

He said: "I'm going to shoot the lock, so get away from the door."

She didn't.

Manslaughter ("person-slaughter"?) for sure, but not murder.

And he'll get a suspended sentence because he had recently become a widower.

I heard the same thing (4 shots through a bathroom door while she was sitting on the sink). Yeah I would like to hear how he tries to argue a defense around that.

Especially if they were the only ones in the house. Pretty hard to shoot yourself through a door 4 times I would have thought.

Read about a baseball bat covered with blood, found at his place.. Another item in the list of things that need to be explained..

<snip>

she was locked in the bathroom (just about every man in a long-term relationship knows that this is just where women go when they don't want to continue the discussion....bathroom door closed=conversation closed) and he fired through the door.

<snip>

May I suggest a pretty good defence argument?

They had a row. She locked herself in the bathroom.

He said: "I'm going to shoot the lock, so get away from the door."

She didn't.

Manslaughter ("person-slaughter"?) for sure, but not murder.

And he'll get a suspended sentence because he had recently become a widower.

Not a criminal law lawyer and no clue about laws in SA, but wouldn't a transferred intent argument elevate mens rea to a higher grade crime? Intended act, unitended consequences, inherently risky behavior constituting assault, and knew or should know likely to cause outcome. These are crude elements that I making up from faint memory related to my appellate court clerkships back in mid 90s.

Crime of passion might be better route maybe if she told him him she was doing the neighbor, the local bartender, or someone that stood taller in the community.

Couldn't he have just kicked that door open? No wait!

Read about a baseball bat covered with blood, found at his place.. Another item in the list of things that need to be explained..

Should be easy wounds to ID.

Just maybe she cracked him over the head with the baseball bat and, in a daze, he grabbed his pistol and shot what he perceived to be Satan mocking him and trying to rape his girlfriend.

<snip>

she was locked in the bathroom (just about every man in a long-term relationship knows that this is just where women go when they don't want to continue the discussion....bathroom door closed=conversation closed) and he fired through the door.

<snip>

May I suggest a pretty good defence argument?

They had a row. She locked herself in the bathroom.

He said: "I'm going to shoot the lock, so get away from the door."

She didn't.

Manslaughter ("person-slaughter"?) for sure, but not murder.

And he'll get a suspended sentence because he had recently become a widower.

I'm no legal expert, but that doesn't sound particularly good. "You have displayed your intentions to exercise your right to personal space. I don't approve so I'll use completely unreasonable force to invade that space.". Doesn't sound like the kind of person I would like to be running (pun "kind of" intended) around free in society.

He doesn't look like a steroid junkie but his alleged behaviour seems to be similar. I watched a video of him running against able bodies people. His action was quite different and I wonder whether that was down to his blades or something else.

The previous thread on this subject had enough attempts at humor. This one is about a murder victim, her accused murdered and their life together. I think we can be a little more serious and stay on topic.

Posts deleted.

Read about a baseball bat covered with blood, found at his place.. Another item in the list of things that need to be explained..

Thy play -Cricket- there, so it was a -Cricket bat- I was reading.

But will not make much difference in the outcome, if hit on the head of a woman.

Edited February 17, 201313 yr by ALFREDO

And he'll get a suspended sentence because he had recently become a widower.

"Widower"?

I hope the real defense lawyers, work more precisely. He was not married and only in a short time (3 month) relationship.

Edited February 17, 201313 yr by ALFREDO

And he'll get a suspended sentence because he had recently become a widower.

"Widower"?

I hope the real defense lawyers, work more precisely. He was not married and only in a short time (3 month) relationship.

Oops, you are correct. I should have said "bereaved".

News from the "Guardian":

"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. Citing sources close to the investigation, the paper said Steenkamp's skull was crushed and police requested that Pistorius undergo drug tests."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/oscar-pistorius-cricket-bat

Edited February 17, 201313 yr by JetsetBkk

Whoa, crushed her skull. &lt;deleted&gt; pschyo. Shooting bad enough, but he beat her, he crush her skull and then he shoot her . . . That took a little more time for reflection. Maniac.

And this guy complained that other amputees used 2cm longer blades for unfair advantage.

Whoa, crushed her skull. &lt;deleted&gt; pschyo. Shooting bad enough, but he beat her, he crush her skull and then he shoot her . . . That took a little more time for reflection. Maniac.

I'd be interested in learning more about what actually happened.

So he crushed her skull with a cricket bat and then... how did she end up sitting on the sink ??

And then... he shot her 4 times?

Sounds totally weird.

Were drugs in play?

<snip>

Were drugs in play?

Only by the reporters.

I have just noticed an interesting point in the case. Steenkamp's body is to be cremated. In England they do not allow the cremation of a murder victim's body until the case is settled in court. A friend of mine died "falling" from a loading bay on a 3am walk home one night. We all know enough about this man to know that he didn't fall and the police were never entirely satisfied so the family had to bury him and the case remains open so the remains can't be exhumed and cremated.

Does it seem weird to anybody else that they would cremate a body that might need re-examination as new evidence comes to light in the court case?

That crossed my mind too. Perhaps the forensic evidence is overwhelmingly obvious.

Did he get bail today?

Of course, it is still very early days and of course the circumstances are very different but if O.Pistorius somehow gets away with this murder, with no time to be spent in jail or if he is jailed only for a short period of time (ie. if it is decided that it was a case of mistaken identity), I AM SURE that comparisons will be made with the O.J.Simpson case and at least 90 percent of the people will think that he was probably guilty of premeditated murder or manslaughter.

Pistorius has closer relatives than uncles, but his father and sibblings remain silent. His mother died several years ago. Her birth day and date of passing away are tattoed on his body. Alongside a quote from the bible, Corinthians or so. He's a very pious Christian. Had to look it up, didn't care much about him before. I believed he had no place running with able-bodied athletes because his blades gave him an advantage (except for the start), just look at his thighs and compare them to those of other short-distance runners, they're really skinny. The Cologne University figured out that he runs on 30% less energy than able-bodied athletes of the same body mass. But the world needed another poster boy overcoming a crippling disease and prejudice, just like Lance Armstrong. Bad choice again.

Seems Pistorius is quite a gun nut. "A reporter for the Daily Mail said that when he visited Pistorius at his home last year, a pistol was by his bed and a machine gun was propped up by a window." http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/oscar-has-a-history-with-guns-1.1470352#.USOZKPKOs0p

The defence is that he heard a noise in the bathroom, it was pitch black, he called out, got a gun, he didn't have his leg extensions on, felt vulnerable, thought it was a n intruder so fired the shots through the bathroom door even though his girlfriend was somewhere in the house.

And all his relatives are bawling their eyes out.

- BBC News