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Tag: oscar pistorius charged

  • Oscar Pistorius: Previously Fired Gun In Restaurant

    The prosecution in the case against Oscar Pistorius is working hard to discredit not only his version of events leading up to his girlfriend’s death, but his character.

    On the third day of the trial, a witness testified that Pistorius had fired a gun under questionable circumstances just one month prior to fatally shooting Reeva Steenkamp.

    Boxer Kevin Lerena stated that Pistorius, himself, and two others were eating dinner at a Johannesburg restaurant.

    Said the 21-year-old, “A shot went off in the restaurant, then there was just complete silence.” Lerena says that he looked down at his feet and observed a hole in the floor.

    He said, “I had a little graze on my toe. I wasn’t hurt or injured.” He did observe that there was blood.

    Darren Fresco, one of the four eating at the table, was the owner of the gun. He had passed the weapon to Pistorius under the table. Fresco mentioned that it was loaded. A few moments later, Pistorius allegedly fired.

    According to Lerena’s testimony, Pistorius apologized profusely and then asked the gun owner to “take the blame” for firing the weapon in public.

    “‘Please…there’s too much media hype around me.’”

    When the restaurant owner came over, Darren Fresco “took the blame”.

    Although no one was seriously injured in this incident, it is an illustration of dangerous behavior (firing a weapon in public), dishonesty (forcing someone else to take the blame for his own actions), and most importantly, recklessly acting in a way that put the lives of others in jeopardy.

    Oscar Pistorius is on trial for the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing of then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius claimed that he had heard an intruder and fired his gun through the door of his bathroom in self-defense. He also claimed that he had no idea that it was Steenkamp at the door, as he had thought she was asleep.

    The prosecution in the case against him is working to prove that Steenkamp’s death was not accidental as Pistorius has claimed.

    Image via YouTube

  • Oscar Pistorius Trial Starts: Not Guilty Plea Given

    While many Americans were settling into bed after a night of viewing the Academy Awards, elsewhere in the world people were preparing for an altogether different Oscar-related spectacle.

    The much talked about trial for South African athlete and celebrity Oscar Pistorius got underway on Monday. The 27-year-old is on trial for the fatal Valentine’s Day shooting of then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

    The athlete admits to shooting 29-year-old Steenkamp through the door of his bathroom, but says it was an accident. His version of events up until now has been that he mistook her for a nighttime intruder and fired out of fear for his life. As far as Pistorius knew, Steenkamp was in bed sleeping.

    With self-defense and accidental homicide as the story, Pistorius’s plea of not guilty isn’t surprising.

    Also not surprising is the countering version of events offered by the prosecution: Pistorius is not a falsely convicted hero; he is a cold calculating killer.

    Prosecutors have claimed that not only will they be using the victim’s clothes to prove Pistorius’s guilt, but that there are witnesses who heard Steenkamp’s terrified screams before and after the shooting began.

    These persons are said to be neighbors, security workers, etc. who were in the surrounding area of the home. Because of their alleged proximity, it is claimed that the prosecution will show through these witnesses a corroborating narrative that shatters Pistorius’s defense.

    While there have been repeated parallels observed between this and the O.J. Simpson trial of the 1990s, the Oscar Pistorius case is a different beast altogether. For one thing, we know Pistorius killed Steenkamp: He has admitted from his own mouth that he’s responsible for her death.

    Now the task at hand is proving her death was due to premeditated murder. This is not as easy to do as one would initially assume. Despite the prosecution’s claim of witnesses, no one was present aside from Pistorius and Steenkamp to declare what happened.

    It is going to take strong witness testimony from multiple, believable parties that emphatically counter what Pistorius claims happened over a year ago. In addition, evidence gathered from the scene of the crime will have to show that Pistorius was not firing from inside the bathroom as he said. The prosecution must successfully demonstrate that Pistorius was the aggressor firing into the bathroom at his helpless girlfriend.

    Pistorius has presented a plausible version of events, and with no eyewitnesses to the crime there is room for doubt as to his guilt. Just enough doubt to make for a controversial acquittal. To avoid this outcome, the prosecution must make sure its case is as strong as it has led members of the public to believe.

    Image via YouTube

  • Oscar Pistorius: Victim’s Clothes Could Seal Fate

    Oscar Pistorius is currently on trial for the alleged murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. It is a scandal that has rocked the nation of South Africa, where Pistorius was once hailed as a hero.

    Pistorius was nicknamed “Blade Runner”, after the unique blade-like prosthetics he wore during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

    The plaudits and praise have devolved into accusations and infamy since his girlfriend’s alleged murder on Valentine’s Day in 2013. The case is seen by many as the South African equivalent of the O.J. Simpson trial. Like that famous case from the early 1990’s, Pistorius’s trial will likely be heavily televised throughout the country and around the world.

    Prosecutors in the Pistorius case are claiming that the murder victim’s own clothing will serve as key pieces of evidence in the trial.

    According to Pistorius’s version of events, he was under the impression that he was defending himself from an intruder that had broken in and was threatening his life. He believed his girlfriend to be asleep in bed and had no idea that it was her that he fatally wounded by firing shots through the bathroom door.

    This would have meant that her death was entirely accidental and a sad and unintentional killing brought on purely by mistaken identity.

    The prosecution is countering this story by saying they have evidence, including his former girlfriend’s own clothing, that suggests an entirely different situation occurred. It is anticipated that the prosecution will use this evidence to argue that Pistorius intentionally opened fire on Steenkamp knowingly, murdering her in cold blood.

    Medupe Simasiku, spokesman for the national prosecution service, said in an interview with Dateline NBC that the prosecution believes that Steenkamp “was probably running away” from Pistorius. In a failed attempt to save her life, they theorize that “she locked herself in the bathroom.”

    According to their theory, it was not Pistorius hiding in the bathroom and fearing for his life but his victim.

    Simasiku said he could not state the whole of the prosecution’s case against Pistorius..

    “There is a piece of evidence around the clothes that could suggest what happened there,” he said. “To disclose it now would be to disclose a lot of our thinking around the case before the time.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Oscar Pistorius Charged With Valentine’s Day Murder Of Gf (BREAKING)

    Oscar Pistorius, the first man to ever compete in both the Paralympics and the Olympics, has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend.

    Police were called to the athlete’s home in the early hours of Thursday morning after a shooting was reported; when they arrived, they found that Pistorius’ girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, had been shot to death, suffering wounds in her arms and head. Right now, officials aren’t releasing many details, but it is widely believed that Steenkamp entered the home in order to surprise her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and he shot her, believing her to be an intruder.

    Pistorius–known as “Blade Runner” because of his high-tech prosthetics–is said to have kept several weapons in his home in South Africa due to “previous incidents”, which the police aren’t detailing at this time. It’s thought that the athlete has dealt with intruders in the past, leading him to stock up an arsenal.

    Writer Jonathan McEvoy interviewed Pistorius at his home in 2011 and saw the weapons for himself, speculating that Pistorius had begun storing them because of his country’s high crime rate.

    “I spoke to him at his house and when we went upstairs to his bedroom so that our photographer could take photos of his running blades, that was when I saw the weapons,” said McEvoy. “There was the pistol by the bed, the machine gun up against the wall, the baseball bat under the window, a cricket bat too. He was concerned by safety and security to a high level, there was no doubt about that.”

    The investigation is still ongoing, obviously, and Pistorius has a court date which will likely be held tomorrow. Despite the rumors that it may have been an accident, neighbors reported hearing the sounds of an argument and shouting coming from the home before the shooting occurred.

    Reeva Steenkamp
    Image: FHM

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