Bonus Case: Hilton Botha's attempted murder charges.
Note:
Initially, I intended to do this as a main case for the week. However, when I did my digging, several of the sources I looked into seemed to be saying a lot of the same things. So, consider this a bonus case.
Introduction:
When I neared the end of my research on the Oscar Pistorius case, I found something interesting that I thought could could be worth a dive of its own. I had talked about Hilton Botha, who was the man that served as the lead investigator in the murder of Reeva Steenkamp by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius. What I did not know was that Botha himself was dropped from the case altogether.
The allegations:
Botha allegedly drunkenly fired on a minibus loaded with passengers in 2011. No one died, thankfully. one person did complain to the police. Botha denied any wrongdoing, but was arrested. The charges were initially dropped. However, they were eventually reinstated.
Botha's Side of the Story:
According to Botha, he and two officers were investigating a case, and they had tried to pull the vehicle over. He said the driver refused to stop, and that he and the other two officers shot at the wheel. Botha also denied that alcohol played any part in the story.
Further Errors In Botha's Investigation That I Did Not Know About:
Reportedly, Botha bungled his testimony in the Oscar Pistorius trial. He admitted to not knowing if Reeva Steenkamp received any texts from 2 to 3 am, that he lacked urgency in terms of asking for Steenkamp's phone call records, that he had missed a bullet at the crime scene, and that he had actually walked through the crime scene wearing unprotected shoes.
Final Note:
When I was researching this, I actually was not able to find what exactly happened with those charges after 2013. I did learn that he resigned from the South African Police force.
Sources:
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