Oscar Pistorius shoots and kills girlfriend by accident

[Tropicana]

Oscar Pistorius appears in court and denies girlfriend's murder

Family says athlete denies murder 'in strongest terms' as court proceedings begin over shooting of Reeva Steenkamp

Hands clasped to his face, his torment laid bare in a humid redbrick courtroom, Oscar Pistorius was back at the centre of the crowd's gaze.Six months ago he was watched by millions as he sprinted down the track of London's Olympic Stadium. On Friday Pistorius stood in the dock a broken man, facing a charge of murdering his girlfriend.
The double-amputee athlete, nicknamed Blade Runner, was making his first court appearance since the multiple shooting at his home that left the 29-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp dead.
Pistorius denied murder "in the strongest terms", his family and management made clear in a statement, offering their "deepest sympathy" to Steenkamp's family.
Inside the packed courtroom in Pretoria all eyes turned as Pistorius, his hair short and neat, entered wearing a grey suit and blue tie. He quickly broke down, putting his fingers over his eyes, his trauma reflected in the faces of watching photographers.
"Take it easy," the chief magistrate Desmond Nair told him. "Come take a seat."
As proceedings continued, Pistorius repeatedly lost his composure. When the magistrate used the phase "premeditated murder" the athlete slumped forward as if trying to bend over double, his head bowed, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.
He remained inconsolable and silent throughout, a lonely man in a crowded room.
Pistorius's father, Henke, was in court, as was his brother Carl, sister Aimee and other supporters. At one point Henke leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on Pistorius's back; at another, Carl put a hand on his shoulder, prompting Pistorius's head to turn slightly.
Nair announced the case as "the state versus Mr Oscar Leonard Pistorius", involving a charge of one count of murder. The prosecution indicated it would file the more serious charge of premeditated murder. Pistorius could face life in prison if found guilty.
Nair presided over the near hour-long hearing in a courtroom crammed with more than 100 people, including numerous local and international journalists. The magistrate ruled that no recordings of court proceedings would be allowed in the case.
The hearing was relatively informal, with attendees wearing T-shirts and jeans, and journalists frequently tweeting from phones. One man in a yellow football shirt held a crime docket marked "GBH" and "beer bottle".
The magistrate delayed Pistorius's bail hearing until Tuesday and ruled that the 26-year-old would be held at a Pretoria police station until then. It is more common for the accused to be detained in prison.
Steenkamp was found shot dead in Pistorius's home in a heavily guarded, gated complex in the northern outskirts of Pretoria. South African media reports suggest Pistorius may have mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder, but police said neighbours had heard shouting and screaming before the shots and there had been previous "domestic" incidents at the house.
The Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper said Steenkamp was shot four times, in the head, chest, pelvis and hand. "The security guards found Pistorius by Steenkamp's body in the bathroom," the paper said, citing a neighbour. "The door had bullet holes right through it." Police have not disclosed details and there has been no verification of the claim.
Pistorius's family and management company issued a statement making clear that he intends to fight the charge. "Firstly, and most importantly, all our thoughts today must be with the family and friends of Reeva Steenkamp," the statement said.
"Oscar Pistorius has appeared in court here in Pretoria this morning formally charged with the murder of Reeva Steenkamp. The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/15/oscar-pistorius-court-denies-murder

Sorry I was being insensitive.

[RichD]

Oscar Pistorius appears in court and denies girlfriend's murder

Family says athlete denies murder 'in strongest terms' as court proceedings begin over shooting of Reeva Steenkamp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/15/oscar-pistorius-court-denies-murder

I still don't believe it. He seems like a really nice man. What is up with these athletes and these slutty chicks who pose for photos in skimpy clothing. Run her through Google Images. Some of her photos are:

so he is a nice guy because he looks like a nice guys and she is a slut because of her job. talk about superficial judgment.

[Tropicana]

I removed my comment as insensitive before you posted. Please disregard.

[Tropicana]

Oscar Pistorius: media unlikely to be in contempt, but could be libellous

The coverage of the alleged murder by Oscar Pistorius of Reeva Steenkamp highlights the difficulty of enforcing rights to a fair trial in the age of social media.No sooner had news of the violent death of Steenkamp and Pistorius's involvement emerged than, depressingly and rather predictably, the jokes started on Twitter.
Very soon after that though came the speculation about motive: analysis of any defence and examination of previous behaviour by Pistorius. We had , verdict, mitigation and aggravating circumstances all wrapped up in a morning on Twitter.
This rush to analyse, explain and condemn has consequences for mainstream coverage of such events, as one can see from Friday morning's papers. It is simply not enough to report the terrible event any more: readers need their papers to provide background and context which they will go looking for on the web if they cannot find it in print.
So for example, this morning's Daily Mirror carries an interview with the mother of an ex-girlfriend speaking of her relief that her daughter was out of the relationship. The Sun reports an alleged obsession with guns and previous threatening behaviour and an extraordinary shot-by-shot account of the killing on its front page. The Times and Daily Telegraph detail his supposedly fiery temper and the Daily Mail carries a report about "The Dark Side of the Blade Runner". The Guardian carries a lengthy editorial detailing his "fall", although we are a long way from trial.
South Africa is a common law jurisdiction like the UK and it has similar contempt laws. The crucial difference is that jury trials were abolished there in 1969 and Pistorius will be tried by a judge alone. This gives publishers and tweeters some reassurance. It has always been assumed that judges, unlike jurors, are above the influence of the media, whether it is on Twitter or in the pages of the papers.
So contempt should not be a problem in South Africa. But libel could be – either in South Africa, or possibly the UK. It is worth noting that the UK media's coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann did not stop her parents securing substantial libel damages from a number of news organisations, even though the events they were reporting on took place in Portugal.
What if the killing of Steenkamp had happened in the UK, or in any other country with a jury system? Do we believe that Twitter, or the mainstream media would have been any more restrained in their coverage? Perhaps not.
It would seem now that some crimes transcend the law and trying to control coverage of them is like trying to hold back the tide, an impossibility.
The Law Commission is currently reviewing the law of contempt in the UK and one of the powers it has suggested would allow judges to order removal of online material. The judge would have to specify which URLs were to be disabled for the duration of a trial.
Imagine if one tried to track down the prejudicial URLs circulating about Pistorius? It would be an impossible task.
The Pistorius case shows the difficulty in a balancing the right to a fair trial with the sort of freedom of expression allowed by global social media, especially where the defendant, or victim, is a world-famous figure.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/15/oscar-pistorius-media-contempt-libel

[Tropicana]

The Sun's Oscar Pistorius front page: 'lechery over a corpse'

Paper's huge image of Reeva Steenkamp in a bikini provokes flood of complaints on Twitter and radio phone-in

The Sun came under sustained fire on Friday because of its front page, which reported the arrest of Oscar Pistorius by running a huge picture of his dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a bikini.Hundreds of people aired their complaints on Twitter about the image of Steenkamp, arguing that it was both sexist and tasteless.
Among those who condemned the paper were former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott and Labour MP Chris Bryant, who tweeted: "This is a simply despicable front page. It glories in domestic violence. @rupertmurdoch apologise."
Prescott's tweet said: "I really hope every member of the shadow cabinet thinks twice before writing for the Sun after that front page."
Among the feminist complainants was the newspaper columnist Suzanne Moore who argued that the Sun had hit "a new low". She called it"lechery over a corpse," adding: "A woman just murdered? I hope mass boycott."
Bryant continued his attack in further tweets, urging his followers to complain to the Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan.
One of them, Chelsey Sanderson, pointed out that the Sun had taken "the moral high ground" by refusing to publish the picture of a pregnant Duchess of Cambridge in a bikini but had dared to publish a murder victim in her bikini. She added: "Words fail me."
One of the most damning tweets was posted by a journalist, Ben Bold, who accused the Sun of "doing what it does best: flaunting its egregious lack of judgement, decency etc".
Many callers to Victoria Derbyshire's BBC Radio 5 Live programme on Friday expressed their outrage, with few people willing to defend the paper.
But the Sun's former deputy editor, Neil Wallis, spoke up for his former newspaper in a series of tweets. One said that the storm over the Sun page one "is totally fake" and contended it was the result of complaints from "the usual suspects who never read the paper anyway."
RG comment: What do people expect of the Sun? Sure, its front page is tasteless. Yes, it is also sexist. But the paper is like that every day in every way.
There is, of course, no harm in taking the opportunity to point it out. But I suspect the complainers are talking to the converted; in other words, people who don't read the Sun regularly, if at all (Wallis is surely right about that).
Some 7 million people are estimated to read each copy of the Sun and, though the numbers are decreasing, it remains Britain's most popular paper.
The figures may be disheartening to those who believe in better, particularly those who loathe sexism, but it's obvious, if sad, that it is deeply embedded in working class culture.
So a large slice of the British population just doesn't view the Sun's content (or the Daily Star's for that matter) in terms of sexism, which takes us back to that page 3 debate again. As for taste, it is always in the eye of the beholder.
So complain away. Argue the case. Embarrass Rupert Murdoch. But also understand that cultural change takes time.
One bright fact to note: The Sun and the Daily Star used to sell, between them, more than twice as many copies as they do now. That's progress, is it not?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/feb/15/sun-oscar-pistorius

[tuffstuff]

well since they are playing up the crime rate over there and the number of burglaries per day, am betting he walks or gets a slap on the wrist.

i hope not. Her family look like dem not gonna stand for that tho. Mi naw make no joke bout him yaw *hail mary full of grace**

[Tropicana]

This is one of the articles referred to. The vultures are circling. How come this report is just saying all of this now?

The dark side of the Blade Runner: Guns strewn around his bachelor pad, explosive rages, a procession of blondes... and trips to the shooting range when he couldn't sleep

Oscar Pistorius's bedroom was immaculate. His hundreds of designer t-shirts and trainers were packed neatly into the wardrobe, doubtless put away by his houseboy Frankie.His double bed was perfectly made. Golden sunlight streamed through the large window. The only items that looked out of place were the cricket and baseball bats behind the door.
Then there was the black pistol on the table next to the bed – and a sinister-looking machine gun under the window.

To access his house, we passed armed guards at the arched Mediterranean-style gateway to the gated community. Fastidious about manners, Pistorius spoke politely to the men – ‘Thanks very much, cuz.’The barriers rose and we drove through. He prepared us a chicken, nut and avocado salad, took a bottle of water for himself and slung me a beer. His dining room was vast, with room for 16 chairs around the rectangular table.
After lunch, he showed me around his home. I recall being impressed by the marble floors.
In his bedroom, I pointed to the handgun – a nine-millimetre pistol – and asked what it was for.
‘Protection, brother,’ said Pistorius. ‘You can have all the guards in the world at the gate, but the problem is when they are in on the robbery.’
South Africa is a country of contradictions. It is welcoming and, for the most part, friendly, but it is also a cauldron of criminal violence.
Every year around 7,000 so-called ‘home invasion raids’ take place in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, which covers Johannesburg and Pretoria, the cities where Pistorius was born and lives.

Work-out sessions at Jannie’s Gym, near his home, were irregular. He was known to rant and rave as he struggled to complete the simplest of routines. His swearing would astonish the mothers and children also using the gym. Occasionally, he would stalk out in a fury, returning only when his anger had expired.
He couldn’t sleep – perhaps unsurprisingly given his caffeine pills and coffee diet. Often he would rise in the middle of the night and go with his gun and a couple of boxes of ammunition to the shooting range.

Asked how often, he replied: ‘Just sometimes when I can’t sleep.’
The use of firearms is certainly an unusual remedy for insomnia, and perhaps not the healthiest.
While an undoubtedly brilliant athlete, and the poster boy for Paralympic sport, Pistorius’s dark side was becoming increasingly evident.
His love life was complex. He was linked to a procession of women – always blonde, pneumatic, glamour girls.

It was almost as if he were seeking validation through sex, trying to compensate for some deep-seated insecurity that perhaps came with his disability.
Amid the amorous comings and goings, he got together with Vicky Miles in 2006, the school sweetheart whom he described as ‘my true love’. They split two years later, only to be reunited a short while afterwards, but they broke up again last year.

They weren’t ‘exclusive’ and Pistorius, at least, had other girlfriends at the same time. However, he has said of Vicky: ‘Our relationship was very intense and, although, this most probably contributed to our eventual separation, it meant that while we were together we approached every moment as if it was our last.’In a poignant echo of yesterday’s drama, Pistorius crept into Vicky’s house on Valentine’s Day 2006. ‘While everyone was sleeping, I had been to her house to hang 200 coloured balloons,’ he recalled. ‘I blew every one of them up individually.’
His girlfriend before the late Miss Steenkamp was Samantha Taylor, a marketing student from Cape Town, and another identikit blonde.
They dated for 18 months before splitting late last year. Even while with Miss Taylor, Pistorius was linked to several other women, including Russian model Anastassia Khozissova.
Pistorius was then seen with Miss Steenkamp at an awards ceremony in South Africa last November. At first they insisted they were ‘just friends’, but when it became clear they were a couple, Miss Taylor – his previous lover – spoke out.
‘Oscar had such a way with women. She’s probably not the only one he’s got.’ She then added, somewhat enigmatically: ‘Oscar’s certainly not what people think he is.’
At the same time, she told another newspaper that she was ‘prepared to reveal what (Pistorius) made me go through.’ Later, in a lawyer’s letter sent to the paper, she withdrew her comments.
Pistorius’s image was tarnished still further by a report last November that he had ‘threatened to break the legs’ of a friend of a man he thought had slept with yet another girlfriend, approaching South African football player Marc Batchelor in the VIP area of a horseracing track.

He has, at various times, been linked to at least three other South African women: Jenna Edkins, Melissa Rom and Chanelle du Plessis. All are young, attractive and blonde.Yesterday, police revealed that there had been a history of problems related to 26-year-old Pistorius. He was arrested in 2009 for allegedly assaulting a woman during a party at his house. He spent the night in the cells, but the case was not pursued.
So what is it that drives this talented young man to live his life as such a frenetic pace, and with such forcefulness of character?
Pistorius has always made light of his disability. His mother, a devout Christian, wrote a letter to him while he was still a baby for him to read when he was older. She wrote: ‘The real loser is the person who sits on the side, the person who does not even try to compete.’
But Pistorius always knew he was different. Playing on a beach as a toddler, two children asked him: ‘Why do you leave holes in the sands, not footprints?’ How many times, in how many different ways must that scenario have been replayed? His adored mother died when she was just 42. He was only 15, and so it was a serious emotional blow.

It was his macho attitude that gave him the backbone to fight for the right to compete against able-bodied athletes, beating objections from athletics’ world governing body.Though he excelled himself by reaching the Olympic semi-final of the 400m, it was during the Paralympics last summer that the world caught a sobering glimpse of the ‘other’ Pistorius. Beaten by the Brazilian Alan Oliviera in the 200m final, he used his post-match interview to complain bitterly that he had been cheated of victory because his rival’s prosthetic ‘blades’ were too long.
I criticised him in print for his lack of grace in defeat. Yet when I next saw him last November he threw his arms around me. This was the Pistorius whose company I had so enjoyed at his home. But I keep thinking back to that bedroom and those guns.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2L2H96TNM
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[Tropicana]

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

[RichD]

What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

thats for the courts.

[Tropicana]

Seems he is being tried in the court of public opinion.

[RichD]

yes so it go.

the need to sell papers and tv time

[Tropicana]

Sad but true.

[RichD]

but its another lesson on the failings of hero worship.

[mountaingal]

or could it be born near Negril... Cause I thought when u said St Bess he must be related to Mr Rodgers who owed the gas Station in Mountainside... he was a white man....

i know a rogers from newell and he mentioned there were a lot of people with the name his side, so i think i just made it up that that was where the author was from. there would be nuff rogers across jamaica, i guess.

[Tropicana]

JA Rogers discussion is here:

http://www.jamaicans.com/forums/showthread.php?61284-J-A-Rogers-is-a-Jamaican-born-writer-of-Afrikan-descent