Oscar Pistorius thread

I'm amazed at how many people are skeptical about how he could confuse her for an intruder, considering where and how he lives. South Africa, gated community, presumably a fairly secure home. A gun is kept in the house for the exact intention of protecting its occupants despite all these precautions. In the night there's a sound that means there's someone in the house who shouldn't be and you surprise them in the dark before they surprise you. I'd be amazed if this situation hadn't happened countless times before, albeit more often with an actual intruder. We just never hear about it because, ordinarily, it's not newsworthy over here as there's no celebrity involved.

However, with the other snippets of information we've garnered from the media and SA police, it looks like there's far more to it than the above scenario. We'll have to wait and see. All I'm saying is that I think it's well within the realms of possibility that someone could be mistaken for an intruder and shot dead in this situation, given where it took place.
 
Belmit said:
I'm amazed at how many people are skeptical about how he could confuse her for an intruder
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Do leggy white blond females commit a lot of burglaries in South Africa?

But seriously, his story was that she tried to wake him up. That implies she was in the bedroom whilst he was sleeping, not creeping around downstairs so unless he goes to sleep with a 9mm pistol in his hand and it was a reflex action I don't see how how could shoot her 4 times by mistake. Especially as one was a head shot.

And if he did wake up and had time to think about his actions, who shoot firsts blindly without establishing that it might in fact be your girlfriend?

I could understand if he lived alone and wasn't expecting anyone but as I understand it she lived with him so the thought must have crossed his mind that it could be her.


Then when you throw in neighbours saying they heard arguing before the shooting suggests they interacted before the shooting. If his story was true all that would have been heard would be the gun shots then screaming/crying.
 
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Belmit said:
I'm amazed at how many people are skeptical about how he could confuse her for an intruder, considering where and how he lives. South Africa, gated community, presumably a fairly secure home. A gun is kept in the house for the exact intention of protecting its occupants despite all these precautions. In the night there's a sound that means there's someone in the house who shouldn't be and you surprise them in the dark before they surprise you. I'd be amazed if this situation hadn't happened countless times before, albeit more often with an actual intruder. We just never hear about it because, ordinarily, it's not newsworthy over here as there's no celebrity involved.

However, with the other snippets of information we've garnered from the media and SA police, it looks like there's far more to it than the above scenario. We'll have to wait and see. All I'm saying is that I think it's well within the realms of possibility that someone could be mistaken for an intruder and shot dead in this situation, given where it took place.
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I don't think people are skeptical about confusing her for an intruder, it's just the facts that have been released which make the intruder story seem quite unlikely.
- Police reporting earlier domestic disturbances at the premises.
- Neighbours reporting screaming and shouting before the shooting.
- The police are pushing for a premeditated murder charge, which means they know a more about the situation than we do, and they aren't interested in the "valentines surprise" which has done the rounds.
 
The thing about her being in the bathroom and him shooting through the door does somewhat further quash intruder ideas. As why would an intruder be in his bathroom, especially if its ensuite and accessed through the bedroom. I suppose the exception to that is as to whether it has more than one door to access it.

Has anyone found out whether she was actually living with him?
I've not seen anything reported as to whether she effectively lived with him or not. As given they had only been dating a short while, if she didn't, it would be unusual to sneak in.
 
molinari said:
I don't think people are skeptical about confusing her for an intruder, it's just the facts that have been released which make the intruder story seem quite unlikely.
- Police reporting earlier domestic disturbances at the premises.
- Neighbours reporting screaming and shouting before the shooting.
- The police are pushing for a premeditated murder charge, which means they know a more about the situation than we do, and they aren't interested in the "valentines surprise" which has done the rounds.
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I'm addressing more comments like, as above, 'who shoot first blindly without establishing that it might in fact be your girlfriend?'. The point I'm trying to make is that in South Africa, in an area that has such high security due to the prevalence of violent crimes and murders from intruders, where people know that an intruder will almost certainly have a firearm, and you don't expect a girlfriend of 3-4 months (who might not even live there) to be letting herself in at 3am, it's not inconceivable that someone might shoot blindly at a silhouette in the dark. Yes, it's foolish and reckless, but just-awake and full of adrenaline it could be a tragic mistake.

As I said though, it looks like there's far, far more to it in this particular case. I'm talking in general about this idea that, despite the fear and paranoia built in to the situation I described above, someone would have the presence of mind to flick a light switch on first to see who it was, or call out and give away the fact they're there. Nothing more than that.

estebanrey, I wasn't aware we'd heard his side of things. Has that been reported?
 
Nexus said:
The thing about her being in the bathroom and him shooting through the door does somewhat further quash intruder ideas. As why would an intruder be in his bathroom, especially if its ensuite and accessed through the bedroom. I suppose the exception to that is as to whether it has more than one door to access it.

Has anyone found out whether she was actually living with him?
I've not seen anything reported as to whether she effectively lived with him or not. As given they had only been dating a short while, if she didn't, it would be unusual to sneak in.
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Could it not be possible he thought an intruder gained access via a window in the bathroom? Maybe he left a window open for ventilation?

Where was it said it was an ensuite bathroom too?
 
mp3duck said:
Could it not be possible he thought an intruder gained access via a window in the bathroom? Maybe he left a window open for ventilation?

Where was it said it was an ensuite bathroom too?
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It wasn't, I just made the assumption that given that he lives in a mansion and its known that he keeps a gun by his bed, that chances are it would be.
 
Nexus said:
It wasn't, I just made the assumption that given that he lives in a mansion and its known that he keeps a gun by his bed, that chances are it would be.
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I hope it just turns out that he went to bed alone, heard movement / someone in the bathroom (where the bath room is is kinda immaterial), and he shot though the door, fearing for his own safety.

However, he lived in a gated community, which means his girlfriend would have to have entered via the secure gate. These are normally manned, so there would be record of her arriving. Even if unmanned, there must be CCTV showing her arrival? For him to have been surprised early in the morning, this arrival time needs to coincide with the time shots here heard?

I'd of thought this would have been one of the first things the police would have checked?
 
mp3duck said:
I hope it just turns out that he went to bed alone, heard movement / someone in the bathroom (where the bath room is is kinda immaterial), and he shot though the door, fearing for his own safety.

However, he lived in a gated community, which means his girlfriend would have to have entered via the secure gate. These are normally manned, so there would be record of her arriving. Even if unmanned, there must be CCTV showing her arrival? For him to have been surprised early in the morning, this arrival time needs to coincide with the time shots here heard?

I'd of thought this would have been one of the first things the police would have checked?
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Yeah, I'm sure they know a lot more than what has been released so far.

I think deep down everyone wants it to be a mistake, but sadly its not looking that way. Such a waste of life and a promising career and a role model.
 
My guess is, with them going for a murder charge and allegations of previous domestic issues, they've had a domestic, it's got out of hand, she's locked herself in the bathroom and he's put a couple of rounds through the door.
 
Lucky for him SA isn't one of those countries that chops off hands for criminal activities.

Probably get a few years only for manslaughter, and then half that anyway for good behavior. No faith in justice :(
 
There is a precedent set in SA for not prosecuting people for mistakenly shooting a loved one. Look at the case of Rudi Visagie, he was initially charged with murder but then everything was dropped as he had 'suffered enough.'

Pistorius, though, seems completely different. The mistaken valentines thing was only ever media fiction and it looks like he's going to go down for a long time.
 
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