The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oscar Pistorius

  • Murder trial: Pistorius took acting lessons

    Murder trial: Pistorius took acting lessons

    Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius is alleged to have taken acting lessons before his murder trial in Pretoria, South Africa.

    The 27-year-old has been accused of killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot dead through a bathroom door at his home on Valentine’s Day last year.

    Jani Allan, who is a former columnist for the South African Sunday Times, claimed in an open letter to Pistorius on her blog that the double amputee had taken lessons from a “close friend” of hers.

    The athlete has broken down in tears numerous times at the High Court and has also been heard retching when details of Steenkamp’s injuries have been revealed.

    Allan wrote: “I have it from a reliable source that you are taking acting lessons for your days in court. Your coach has an impossible task. Oscar, I look at you mewling and puking in the witness stand.”

    Pistorius denies murder by maintaining that he mistook the South African model for an intruder when he fired four gunshots through the door.

    The trial will resume on May 5.

  • Prosecutor concludes cross-examination of athlete

    Prosecutor concludes cross-examination of athlete

    The prosecutor in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius has ended his five-day cross-examination of the athlete yesterday with a stark summary of how he shot his girlfriend, insisting he killed her deliberately after an argument.

    “You fired four shots through the door whilst knowing that she was standing behind the door,” said Gerrie Nel, known in South Africa as “the Pitbull” for his relentless style of questioning.

    “She was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her,” he continued.

    “That is not true,” said the 27-year-old Pistorius, who faces life in prison if convicted of murder. Pistorius has broken into tears on many occasions during the questioning, and at one point retched into a bucket on the witness stand after being shown grisly pictures of Reeva Steenkamp after the shooting on Valentine’s Day last year.

    He insists he killed the 29-year-old law graduate and model accidentally after mistaking her for an intruder hiding behind a closed toilet door.

    Yesterday the athlete’s voice quivered as he recounted how he was “overcome with terror and despair” on finding her bloodied body slumped against the toilet after he broke down the door with a cricket bat.

    “I was broken, I was overcome, filled with sadness,” he told the judge Thokozile Masipa, adding that he urged Steenkamp to hold on while he sought help from neighbours at his high-security Pretoria residence.

    The trial has drawn wide interest both in South Africa and abroad, with opinion divided as to whether Pistorius did or did not mean to kill Steenkamp.

    Before the shooting, Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a baby, was one of South Africa’s most revered sportsmen, admired for his prowess on the race track using carbon-fibre prosthetics.

  • Oscar Pistorius recounts moment of killing

    Oscar Pistorius recounts moment of killing

    South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has described the moment he fired the shots which killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home.

    He told his trial in Pretoria he had heard noises from the toilet and thought an intruder was coming out.

    “Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door,” he said.

    The trial of the athlete, who could face life imprisonment if convicted of murder, was adjourned until Wednesday after he broke down crying.

    Shortly before Oscar Pistorius described in court how he had shot Reeva Steenkamp, his lawyer asked him to demonstrate his height without his prosthetic legs.

    Gasps were heard in the overflow courtroom as he slowly walked on his stumps over to the mock-up of the toilet door. His confident demeanour changed – on his stumps he seemed self-conscious. Very few people have seen him like this and it is not an image visible to the world as his testimony is not being televised.

    The court heard for the first time that the athlete had spoken to Ms Steenkamp shortly after waking up, to bring in some fans from the balcony. She had asked if he was having trouble sleeping. Another revelation was how he had whispered to her to get down and phone the police after hearing the sound in the bathroom – but there was no mention of her replying.

    He also did not mention having an argument with his girlfriend that night, rather describing a quiet, couple’s night in. The prosecution argues that he killed her in a fit of rage and neighbours have testified to hearing “loud voices” prior to the four shots Mr Pistorius fired.

    The 27-year-old double amputee denies deliberately shooting Ms Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year. On his first day on the stand, on Monday, he made a tearful apology to Ms Steenkamp’s family.

    The prosecution alleges that Mr Pistorius killed his girlfriend after an argument with her.

    In the early hours of 14 February 2013, he said he had got up from bed to bring in some fans he had left outside, in order to cool his bedroom.

    When he heard a window opening in the bathroom, he said, he thought there was a burglar trying to get in. Wanting to protect Ms Steenkamp, who was not sleeping, he had gone to get his gun in the dark.

    “I whispered to Reeva to get down and phone the police,” he said.

    He said he then went into the passage without his prosthetic legs and, overcome with fear, started screaming, and shouted for Ms Steenkamp to get to the floor. The toilet door slammed, reconfirming his belief there was a person or people in the bathroom, the athlete said.

    “I heard a noise from inside the toilet, what I perceived to be someone coming out of the toilet,” he said tearfully. At that point, he shot at the door.

    After the shooting, Mr Pistorius said he had smashed in a door panel to get into the toilet, where he discovered what he had done.

    “Whilst I leant over the partition to get in, I saw the key, so I took it and I unlocked the door, and I flung the door open, and I threw it open,” he said, sobbing.

     

     

    “And I sat over Reeva and I cried… and um, I don’t know how long… I don’t know how long I was there for… She wasn’t breathing.”

    As the athlete broke down, the judge adjourned the trial.

     

  • Pistorius murder trial adjourned till Friday

    Pistorius murder trial adjourned till Friday

    The murder trial of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been adjourned by the High Court in Pretoria until Friday.

    The two-day break was granted by the judge after the prosecution wrapped up their proceedings after a collection of text messages between Pistorius and his deceased girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp were read out in court.

    The double amputee is accused of murdering the South African model, whom he shot dead through a bathroom door at his home on Valentine’s Day last year.

    Yesterday, a message from Steenkamp to Pistorius just a few weeks before the fatal shooting, read that she was sometimes “scared” of the Paralympic champion.

    Mobile phone expert Captain Francois Moller took to the stand on day 15 of the trial to be cross-examined by defence lawyer Barry Roux, who took the witness through a number of loving text messages between Pistorius and Steenkamp leading up to the shooting.

    The court was also shown CCTV footage of Pistorius kissing his other half while they shopped just 10 days before Steenkamp was killed.

    Pistorius,who is expected to give his version of events in court at some stage, denies murder by maintaining that he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder when he fired the gunshots.

  • Pistorius haad ‘big love’ for guns

    Pistorius haad ‘big love’ for guns

    A friend of Oscar Pistorius has told his murder trial that the athlete “had a big love” for guns. Darren Fresco said that he had been with him on two occasions when a gun had been fired in public.

    Pistorius had once accidentally fired a gun in a restaurant but made him take the blame, Mr Fresco said. The Paralympic athlete denies intentionally killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and says he mistook her for a burglar.

    Darren Fresco, in a black suit with shoulder-length, slicked-back light brown hair, seemed confident – some may even say cocky – as he answered defence lawyer Barry Roux’s questions.

    Roux has a tendency to ask the same question over and over again pressing witnesses on details, which can make them seem unsure, and Fresco was no exception.

    For one, he could not explain why his statement had not mentioned Oscar Pistorius asking him to be his fall guy at Tasha’s restaurant, or that he had made up a story to the restaurant owners about how the gun had gone off.

    Fresco also was not sure when the Paralympian had asked him to take the blame for the incident, just that he had done. The lack of detail does not necessarily harm Fresco’s credibility. It has, however, given Roux enough room to suggest he may be protecting himself and sacrificing Pistorius.

    Fresco’s testimony has also given us a glimpse into the friends’ fast life – guns, sports cars, beautiful women and a seeming disregard for police officers. Fresco said that on another occasion, he had been driving when Pistorius fired a gun out of a sunroof after police stopped him for speeding.

    He said Pistorius had become angry after a police officer handled his gun, which was on the back seat of the car.

    “You can’t just touch another man’s gun,” said Pistorius, according to Fresco.

    “Now your fingerprints are all over my gun. So if something happens, you’re going to be liable for anything that happens,” Pistorius reportedly warned the officer.

    The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani says Pistorius was far more composed than on previous days. He sat cross-legged, looking straight at his friend and taking notes.

     

    Mr Fresco’s testimony, our correspondent adds, has given the court a glimpse into the fast life he shared with his friend – guns, sports cars, beautiful women and a seeming disregard for police officers. Mr Pistorius’ ex-girlfriend described the same incident in court in the first week of the trial.

    Samantha Taylor said both men had been agitated after police stopped them and had joked about “shooting a robot [traffic light]”.

    Mr Fresco denied making the joke and said that the mood had been calm before the shot was fired “without warning”. He said he had been left feeling as if his ears were bleeding and that Mr Pistorius had laughed after firing the shot.

    The trial has now been adjourned until Wednesday.

  • Forensic expert contradicts testimony on Steenkamp’s screams

    Forensic expert contradicts testimony on Steenkamp’s screams

    Gert Saayman, a forensic expert, said on Tuesday that Oscar Pistorius’ girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, could not have screamed after she was fatally shot in the head.

    Saayman was testifying at the murder trial of the South African double-amputee Olympic sprinter in Pretoria. His testimony contradicted those of several of Pistorius’ neighbours, who said they heard a woman scream before and after shots were fired in his Pretoria home in February last year.

    Saayman said Steenkamp was first shot in the hip and elbow, and could have screamed before Pistorius fired the fatal shot. The forensic expert was appearing for the second day before the Pretoria court where the 27-year-old athlete has been on trial since March 3.

    Pistorius’ friend, Darren Fresco, also testified on Tuesday, confirming earlier testimonies on two gun-related incidents the athlete was also charged with.

    Fresco said that on another occasion, he was driving when Pistorius fired a gun out of a sunroof after police stopped him for speeding, and also that he discharged a gun in a restaurant. He said Pistorius became angry after a police officer handled his gun which was on the back seat of the car.

  • Pistorius witness still relives ‘terrifying screams’

    Pistorius witness still relives ‘terrifying screams’

    A key witness who testified to hearing screams then gunshots from Oscar Pistorius’ home the night his girlfriend was killed, broke down and wept in court Tuesday, saying she still relives the “terrifying screams” she heard.

    In an emotive second day of the South African Paralympian’s murder trial, a shaken Michelle Burger sobbed after tough cross-examination, saying the events of Valentine’s Day 2013, when Reeva Steenkamp was killed, still haunted her.

    “When I’m in the shower, I relive her shouts. The terrifying screams,” she told the North Gauteng High Court.

    The university lecturer has testified that she heard screams, then gunshots, then more screams from Pistorius’ Pretoria home less than 200 metres away from her own.

    The judge in the murder trial of South African track star Oscar Pistorius warned the media to behave on Tuesday after a local television station leaked a photo of the state’s first witness, who had asked that her image not be broadcast.

    The warning was one several dramatic moments in the trial’s second day that saw a distraught Pistorius bury his head in his hands when the court heard details from the post mortem of his slain girlfriend.

    Judge Thokozile Masipa warned the media and ordered an investigation after broadcaster eNCA showed a photo of Pistorius’ neighbour Michelle Burger during the audio broadcast of her second day of emotional testimony.

    While the trial is being televised live, a previous court order had ruled witnesses must give their consent to be filmed.

    Burger, a university lecturer who testified on Monday that she heard “bloodcurdling” screams from a woman followed by gun shots, had not consented to being filmed and only the audio of her testimony was being broadcast.

    The station accompanied the audio feed of her testimony on Tuesday with a picture of her. After prosecutor Gerrie Nel pointed out the leak, Masipa called for a brief adjournment.

    “I am warning the media, if you do not behave, you are not going to be treated with soft gloves by this court,” Masipa, herself a former journalist, said when the court resumed.

    The station’s head of news apologised, saying in a statement it was a “bad judgement call” to use the photo.

    Her account of events directly contradicts the sports star’s claim that he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder.

    Tuesday’s proceedings began with Pistorius’s lawyer redoubling efforts to pick apart Burger’s account of events, accusing her of jumping to conclusions.

    “You made up your mind that his version could not be,” said defence advocate Barry Roux.

    “You interpreted cricket bat shots to be gunshots and screaming to be a woman and not Oscar. If you didn’t do that, his version would make sense.”

  • Wilful murder and the punishment

    If the South African Olympic and Paralympics star Oscar Pistorius, is standing trial in Nigeria for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, the chances are that he will not secure bail throughout the trial. This is particularly so within the jurisdiction of the states that make up Northern Nigeria, whose criminal offences are provided for in the Penal Code, and the procedure in the Criminal Procedure Code. In Nigeria, while the Magistrate Court must not grant bail for Capital Offences like murder, whether in the Northern or Southern states; the High Court, under the Criminal Procedure Act, applicable to the southern states, may grant bail to a person charged with a Capital Offence.

    Pistorius, a double amputee, is renowned all over the world, for using his carbon fibre blades to compete in races with able bodied men. At last year’s London Olympics, Pistorius was the cynosure of eyes because of his ‘special legs’. Now, his tragic shooting of his girlfriend on February 14, last Valentines Day, has pitched emotions between his supporters and those appalled by the high level of violence against women in Southern Africa. With South Africa reputed as the rape capital of the world, many in that country and across the world are nursing the reprehensible possibility that the killing may be a premeditated macabre valentine gift.

    For Pistorius and Steemkamp’s families, the nightmare will linger until the truth is unequivocally determined, possibly by forensic evidence. But in the meantime, Pistorius is granted bail, as the court held that the prosecution has failed to provide reasons why bail should be denied. According to reports, Pistorius’s bail is premised on the fact that he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder coming in through the toilet, whereupon he shot her four times through the door. The Magistrate in granting bail held that the prosecution has not established that Pistorius is prone to violence, or will likely flee the country, or that his release would provoke public outcry. The case by the prosecution is that the shooting was a premeditated murder; and with the intense public scrutiny, and the high profile nature of the accused, the murder trial of Pistorius could be likened to that of the famous O.J. Simpson of the United States of America.

    Where Pistorius to be on trial in Nigeria, he would be facing death penalty, instead of life imprisonment, that is the punishment for unlawful homicide in South Africa. As provided in section 319(1) of the criminal code: “subject to the provisions of this section any person who commits the offence of murder shall be sentenced to death”. The offence of murder under our law is defined in section 316 of the act. The section provides: “except as hereinafter set forth, a person who unlawfully kills another under any of the following circumstances, that is to say – (1) if the offender intends to cause the death of the person killed, or that of some other person; (2) if the offender intends to do to that person killed or to some other person some grievous harm; (3) if death is caused by means of an act done in the prosecution of unlawful purpose, which act is of such a nature as to be likely to endanger human life….”

    The offences listed in the criminal code, which are more expansive than those listed here, must however be juxtaposed, and possibly tempered if the trial is under Nigeria law, by the provision of section 33(2)(a) of the 1999 constitution. While section 33 provides for the right to life, subsection 2(a) however provides one of the exceptions, and it says: “a person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary – for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property”. In the Pistorius case, it must be remembered that he claims to have acted in apprehension of an intruder, likely to cause him harm, particularly considering his vulnerability, as a physically challenged person.

    While South Africa is reeling in insidious individual crimes, like rape and murder, Nigeria is faced with debilitating organized crimes, threatening the very existence of the country. The foremost is the criminal activities of the religious sects mutating from Boko Haram to Ansaru. Earlier this February, nine women health workers administering the anti-polio virus in Kano were murdered, while seven expatriate workers were kidnapped in Bauchi. Across the Nigeria border, but with accusing fingers pointed to our country, a French family holidaying in northern Cameroun was kidnapped by suspected members of the Boko Haram. The horror news is that the terror groups has extensive support from foreign terrorist organizations and are planning to spread their terror activities to Lagos, and other southern states.

    In the Pistorius case, the chances are that the prosecution will rely on forensic evidence to determine the case, as ballistic tests can say whether the bullets passed through the door or not. Across the world, science and technology is used to solve murder and other serious offences. Unfortunately that is not the case in Nigeria, where several high profile murder cases have been left unresolved for years, without any clue as to the culprits. Nigeria currently is far behind in use of forensic evidence, and this has affected the police capacity to resolve crimes. As happened when Funso Williams, a Nigerian party stalwart was murdered some years back, the police showed lack of capacity to manage crimes scenes. In the Pistorius case, is there the possibility that South Africa is similarly afflicted?

  • Pistorius ‘shot girlfriend in bathroom’

    Pistorius ‘shot girlfriend in bathroom’

     

    South African athletics star Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend three times as she was in the bathroom at his home, prosecutors have said.

    Details of the case against Mr. Pistorius, accused of the premeditated murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, are emerging at a bail hearing.

    He wept as he heard the account, but his lawyers told the court in Pretoria the killing was “not even murder.”

    The BBC says the court appearance comes on the same day as her funeral in Port Elizabeth.

    The prosecution is pursuing a charge of premeditated murder against the 26-year-old athlete.

    Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that on the night of the killing Mr. Pistorius – a double amputee – got up, put on his prostheses, walked seven metres and fired his gun through the bathroom door.

    He shot four times and hit Ms Steenkamp three times, he said.

    The defendant later broke down the bathroom door and carried the victim downstairs, Mr. Nel added.

    Defence lawyer Barry Roux told the court his client did not know in advance who was behind the door.

    He said the prosecution had provided “no evidence of premeditated murder”, and that it was not even murder.

    Mr. Pistorius was sobbing as his lawyer spoke, the BBC reports.

    Following Thursday’s killing there was media speculation that Ms Steenkamp had been mistaken for an intruder but police rejected that possibility.