Day 4
The
murder trial of Oscar Pistorius entered its fourth day today in Pretoria,
South Africa where he stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp
on Valentine's Day 2013.
Four
days in to the trial we have heard from two key witnesses, Michelle Burger
and her her neighbour Charl Johnson. Michelle and Charl say they
overheard screams and loud gun shots on the morning of the 14th. Both have
said the screams were lady-like which Pistorius' defence lawyer has
challenged, saying it could have been infact Oscar's screams for help.
Both
have stood strong in the face of relentless questioning from one of South
Africa's most acclaimed defence lawyers, Barry Roux.
This
case for me has always been a peculiar one. A heartbreaking one at that. A
well-known sporting hero in South Africa shoots dead his model girlfriend. It
is something featured in movies, not so much reality - yet it has happened
and happened in such an extraordinary way it seems difficult to understand.
We know
Reeva arrived at Oscar's gated house on the afternoon of the 14th and was
caught on security cameras smiling and talking to staff. This is where the
story becomes known only to Reeva and Oscar.
Dubbed
as the 'trial of the century' Oscar's murder case is being broadcast for the
world to see. Whether this is something I agree on or not, it does make for
interesting watching.
The defence
team will argue that Oscar mistakenly shot his girlfriend Reeva believing her
to be an intruder in his house. They argue that Oscar shot through the door
of his bathroom 4 times and when realising Reeva was no longer in their bed,
he used a cricket bat to break down the door. Upon realising he had shot
Reeva he screamed for help.
The
prosecution team will argue that Reeva and Oscar were going through a rough
patch in their relationship and on the night of the 14th had a
heated argument resulting in Oscar Pistorius killing his girlfriend. The
prosecution argue that Oscar did not shoot any warning shots - shots that
might be expected if you believe an intruder to be behind the door. They will
use key witnesses to prove that Reeva and Oscar had an argument that night
and show Oscar’s ‘real’ personality. The witness box will include
ex-girlfriends of Oscar who will reveal his ‘jealous’ side.
 |
| Oscar Pistorius' house in Pretoria |
In my
opinion and I say this because all views are my own – I find it odd that
Oscar would be so paranoid in a house that offered maximum security. As a
double amputee, he would not have bought a house where he felt unsafe. His
house is in a gated community, manned by security guards. To even get to
Oscar's house, an intruder must first cross this gated security and men. I am
not saying this is not possible, but it seems fairly difficult.
Secondly,
two key witnesses have said on the night of the 14th they heard high pitched
screams of a woman crying for help, believed to be Reeva. Now Oscar's defence
team have argued that the screams could not have been Reevas, for the first
shot believed to have hit Reeva in the head meant she sustained such bad
brain damage, she would have been incapable of screaming, hence it was
Oscar screaming for help. This to me is odd, because originally Oscar's defence
team said Reeva was hit three times, first in the hip, then the leg and
lastly the head which I believe would have allowed her to scream for help
before the final third bullet.
The
supposed gun shots Michelle Burger and her husband heard have been argued by
the defence to actually be the noise of Oscar using a cricket bat to break
down his bathroom door (after finally realising Reeva was not in the bed).
Pistorius’
bathroom light was also on according to Johnson before the screaming
began which contradicts Pistorius’ claim that there were no lights on in the
house.
What I
also find peculiar is if Oscar believed he heard an intruder why did he not
check where Reeva was. If he had simply turned to look at the other side of
his bed, he would have seen Reeva was absent. Yet he did not do this, he
immediately grabbed his gun from underneath his bed and carried on to
the bathroom. Oscar has previously said it was too dark to see anything, yet
he managed to find his gun easily enough.
Apparently
he yelled Reeva's name and heard nothing. Why would she not reply? Why would
she ignore her boyfriend's anxious screams for her? There has been
suggestions that Reeva and Oscar had been arguing that night backed up by a
witness who overheard them. Perhaps she was not talking to him due to this
argument but I find it extremely odd that she would not reply to such a
heightened yell.
Oscar
said he shouted for the intruder to come out and he had a gun. Now at this
point, if Reeva was not talking to Oscar due to their previous argument, I
think now would have been a good time to presume that talking. Surely she
would not continue to sit in the bathroom ignoring Pistorius was outside with
a gun?
 |
| Murder scene (SkyNews) |
It has been
proved Oscar was on his stumps when he fired the four shots that killed
Reeva. Now this could be because he was extremely frightened and thought the
best thing to do was to grab the gun immediately. This shows an anxious man
thinking on the spur of the moment, however could Oscar and Reeva have had an
heated argument and this spurred Oscar to seek revenge?
Reeva
locked the bathroom door. Now I am not an expert (clearly) but I do find it a
little strange as to why she locked the bathroom door. It was late; she was
quickly going to the toilet, why would she lock the door? Perhaps this is
normal in South Africa, however I believe you would only lock the door if you
were trying to get away from something or someone or you wanted privacy. She had
privacy as the toilet was segregated from the main bathroom and Oscar
supposedly was in bed so why did she still feel the need to lock the door? Also why would an intruder lock themselves in the bathroom with no route of escape. It does not make sense.
Blood
splatter results will later show the position Reeva was in at the time of the
shooting, whether she was on the toilet or behind the door hiding from
Pistorius.
There
are many questions that need answering. In particular, why did Oscar say he
could not remember his iphone passcode? He still has not remembered the code
and his phone has been sent off to be unlocked to see if Oscar sent any
messages that night. These days we use our phones all the time, surely Oscar
remembers his passcode? Is there something
he is hiding?
 |
| Oscar writing notes in court |
This is
a tricky case and over the next few days I hope some more elements will come
to light but having watched it live the past few days I have to say Oscar’s
defence team are doing an extremely good job in scrutinising the witnesses’
statements and evidence.
Even if
Oscar is found not guilty of murdering Reeva, he can still be charged with
murder as he intentionally shot to kill whoever he believed to be behind that
door.
If this
is what Oscar says it is; an awful and heart wrenching tragedy of mistaken
identity then Oscar has to live with the fact he has killed a woman he loved
for the rest of his life.
It
remains for the courts to decide what actually went on that night but in my
opinion, there are too many uncertainties and questions as to why Oscar did
not check where Reeva was and secondly why he shot through that bathroom door
not knowing whether Reeva was behind it or not.
|
