The Model and the Sprinter – Accident or Murder? The Story of Oscar Pistorius

Oscan Pistorius killed his girlfriend through a toilet door on the premise that she was an ‘intruder’.

With every case that goes to trial, there is an element of the unknown. There are cases every day that reach quick verdicts, relying on overwhelming evidence, eyewitnesses and confessions; but it’s the dramatic sagas of dysfunctional relationships, rumours, hearsay, perjury and media interference that make a verdict of guilty or not guilty not so cut and dry. Everyone is entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but there are just some cases where you just want to say “Dude, come on. Everyone knows you did it; just cut the crap and stop wasting everyone’s time.”

Oscar Pistorius is a South African Paralympian who has achieved recognition for competing in sprint events for both single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes, but what he is now most famous for is the murder of his girlfriend, Reena Steenkamp on Valentines Day 2013. He has always maintained that he presumed Ms Steenkamp was in bed when he heard what he thought was an intruder in their bathroom. Pistorius fired his gun at the locked toilet door, hitting Steenkamp three times in the hip, once in the arm and then fatally in the head.

Questions about blood spatter patterns, pre-mortem bruising, past physical abuse, body placement, bullet trajectories, neighbours testimonies and focus on Pistorius’s history with internet porn, gun-firing ranges and excessive firearm purchases have all been thrown at Pistorius’s defence and have all been professionally explained (although whether this is in favour of the defence or not is up to the judge). However text messages retrieved off Steenkamp’s and Pistorius’s iphones, ipads, Blackberrys and computers and presented in court this week speak volumes about the victims fear that the accused would hurt her. Steenkamp obviously felt threatened before she was killed, accusing Pistorius of making her feel scared and attacked.

“I can’t be attacked by outsiders for dating u AND be attacked by you, the one person I deserve protection from,”

So was all the hostility and arguing a catalyst for Pistorius’s actions?  Do you think he killed her on purpose, or was it really all a tragic accident?