Case #3: Oscar Pistorius and the Murder of Reeva Steenkamp
Who Is Oscar Pistorius:
Oscar Pistorius was born on November 22nd, 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. As an infant, both of his legs were amputated. He became a runner when he was 16, and even won gold at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. During the 2012 Olympics, he became the first amputee to compete in track events alongside able-bodied athletes.
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| Oscar Pistorius running in competition |
The Murder:
Let's fast forward to Valentine's Day 2013. Early that morning, Pistorius's girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, was found shot to death in Pistorius's home. Police would say that Steenkamp suffered bullet wounds to the head, and one of her arms. One of my sources claimed that Reeva Steenkamp was shot three times. Oscar Pistorius would quickly be named a suspect in her death. Five days later, Pistorius admitted to shooting Steenkamp in his home. He would allege that he shot her accidentally. He would say that he had mistaken her for an intruder, and shot her through the bathroom door.
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| Reeva Steenkamp, the victim |
After the Murder:
Okay, let's talk about Hilton Botha. Hilton Botha was a veteran of the South African police force. Botha noted that the first thing he had seen walking into Pistorius's house was the body of Reeva Steenkamp. Botha noted that he woken to a call from his colonel that stated "Oscar's shot his girlfriend." Botha said he arrived at Pistorius's home in fifteen minutes. One of the things he took note of was that Pistorius had called the manager of his gated community, requesting an ambulance. Pistorius had also carried Reeva's body from down the stairs from the bathroom where she was shot. Reportedly, Pistorius tried to give her mouth-to-mouth. While Botha was investigating, he noticed that, in addition to multiple bullet holes, the door had also been bashed open with a cricket bat. Pistorius would say he did this after realizing Reeva was inside. Botha would find Pistorius in his garage, crying. Botha would notice that he had blood on him, but not on his hands. This is because Pistorius had washed them. Pistorius maintained that he thought he was shooting at an intruder. Botha would say that the evidence pointed to intentional murder.
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| Hilton Botha, the man who was initially the lead investigator on the Oscar Pistorius case. |
Oscar and Reeva's relationship:
Before I go on to discuss Oscar Pistrius's trial, I want to look over the relationship between Pistorius and Reeva Sheenkamp. One of the first things to consider is that the relationship between the two only lasted for about three months (another source claimed it was four months) before she was murdered. In that short amount of time, Steenkamp was already beginning to show signs of distress. Text messages would reportedly come out where Steenkamp would admit that she was afraid of Pistorius. Pistorius also has a reported history of being abusive and controlling towards girlfriends. Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, had posited that Reeva may have actually been about to end things with Pistorius, though there's no way to truly confirm that this was indeed the case.
Pistorius' Trial:
Pistorius's murder trial began on March 3, 2014. In addition to the murder charge, he would also face two separate gun indictments from instances that were unrelated to Reeva Steenkamp's murder. One of the people called to the stand was Pistorius's neighbor, Michelle Burger. Burger claimed she heard woman's "blood-curdling scream," as well as a man shouting for help three times.
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| Oscar Pistorius walking without his prosthetic legs during his trial |
The Sentence:
During the initial trial in 2014, Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter in September of 2014, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He had only served one of those 5 years, and was released on house arrest. However, In December of 2015 (the article this comes from was dated July 2016) the Supreme Court of Appeals in South Africa overturned the manslaughter verdict, to find Pistorius guilty of murder. "The appeals judge should have known that firing his gun would have killed whoever was behind the door, regardless of who he thought it was." The defense really seemed to play up Pistorius's disability. They said his disability and emotional state were mitigating factors. Pistorius even walked into the courtroom on stumps, without wearing his prosthetic legs. Part of the defense's reasoning for this was to secure a lesser sentence. In South Africa, the minimum for a murder sentence is fifteen years. It seemed as though they had suceeded, and Pistorius was sentenced to six years. Then, an article from November 2017 reported that Pistorius's sentence was increased, adding 13 more years to his sentence.
Final Thoughts:
This case drew my attention because I am somebody with a life-long disability. I do not necessarily empathize with Oscar Pistorius. The actions he took are heinous. In fact, I would like to end this week's case on a quote from Reeva Steenkamp's father that I found while I was doing my research.
"You have to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate you from what you did."
Sources:
https://www.biography.com/athlete/oscar-pistorius
https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/oscar-pistorius-reeva-steenkamps-relationship-was-full-of-fear
https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/africa/oscar-pistorius-sentence/index.html
https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/06/oscar-pistorius-murder
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