South African Olympian/amputee runner charged with murder

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:04 am

One of the feelgood stories out of the London Olympics last summer was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee who was nicknamed Blade Runner for the prosthetics he ran with.

Remember him?

Well...so much for that. Dude's been charged with shooting his girlfriend to death in his home in South Africa..

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/worl ... d/1918689/" target="_blank

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:07 am

I heard they've got some really good evidence against him. As far as this case goes, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:31 am

YellowKing wrote:I heard they've got some really good evidence against him. As far as this case goes, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Eh, joking about this thing already is kind of tasteless IMO.

Anyway, there's some really conflicting reports about what may or may not have happened. Early reports indicated that it may have been an accident (ie. he thought she was a burglar), but later reports are hinting that this might not have been the case after all.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:40 am

Folks connected to him are suggesting the accident angle. Police have noted that they've made multiple visits to the residence on domestic disputes with the two.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:43 am

Yeah CBC was reporting that there is evidence (based on some of her tweets) that she snuck home in the middle of the day to surprise him, and their person from South Africa thought that shooting first would be the norm in the area.

There was, however, also reports of domestic violence in the past and the fact he was charged with murder and not a lesser charge I would think you'd get if it was more of an accident

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:44 am

If only he'd been disarmed.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:12 am

Yep, the domestic dispute calls are going to really cripple his defense.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:14 am

TiLT wrote:
YellowKing wrote:I heard they've got some really good evidence against him. As far as this case goes, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Eh, joking about this thing already is kind of tasteless IMO. .

I got your back YK. Or legs. Whatever needs support.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:17 am

triggercut wrote:If only he'd been disarmed.

Ugh... why did I laugh? Haha.

Man, we can't let double amputees into the Olympics anymore. 100% of the ones we've had so far have turned out to be murderers. *cough*

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:25 am

Have the police announced what video games he had been playing prior to the incident?

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:30 am

I got your back YK. Or legs. Whatever needs support.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:36 am

I may be going out on a limb here, but it sounds like he's guilty to me.

stimpy · Post by **stimpy** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:19 am

McNutt wrote:Have the police announced what video games he had been playing prior to the incident?

I'm going to guess it was one of the Lego games.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:32 am

And it continuing in the bad taste category............boing boing boing boing.
That was him eluding police.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:39 am

Ouch.

Even his official sponsor, Nike, played on the gun theme. “I am the bullet in the chamber,” its advertising slogan said, showing the “Blade Runner” as he burst out of the starting block. (The slogan was pulled from his website after the murder charge on Thursday.)

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:34 pm

triggercut wrote:If only he'd been disarmed.

I'm so going to hell for laughing at that.

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:25 pm

From the always-fertile Deadspin comments section:

"What do you call a guy who shoots his girlfriend and is about to spend the rest of his life in the can?"

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:34 pm

Prosecution backpedaling:

The prosecution case against the Olympics and Paralympics star Oscar Pistorius suffered a blow on Wednesday as South African police admitted a series of blunders in their murder investigation.

Hilton Botha, the detective leading the investigation, crumbled under defence cross-examination after he wrongly claimed to have found boxes of "testosterone" in Pistorius's bedroom and admitted that police had no evidence contradicting the athlete's version of events.
...
The lead protagonist in another day of drama was chief investigating officer Botha, who initially asserted that he had found two boxes of "steroids" in Pistorius's bedroom, electrifying the courtroom. But he hastily corrected himself to say "two boxes of testosterone, needles and injections".

Later, questioned by advocate Barry Roux for the defence, Botha had to admit he could not be certain of the contents. Roux said it was a "herbal remedy" called testo-compositum co-enzyme used by many athletes, insisting: "It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance."
...
Roux piled on the pressure on Botha after he told the court that one of his witnesses heard a fight – "two people talking loudly at each other" – between 2am and 3am on 14 February.

Questioned by Roux, he conceded the witness had not identified the voices as belonging to Pistorius and Steenkamp – and lived 600 metres away in a gated community. There was a collective murmur from Pistorius's family. Botha later changed his estimate to 300 metres when questioned by the prosecution.
...
Wilting under pressure, Botha conceded that he had initially said there would be "no problem" with Pistorius receiving bail but changed his mind after talking to forensics about "how it went down".

Yet asked repeatedly by Roux if he found anything at the scene inconsistent with the account presented by Pistorius in court on Tuesday, Botha confessed that he had not. Nor did he have any evidence to suggest the couple were not in love. Police "take every piece of evidence and try to extract the most possibly negative connotation and present it to the court", Roux said.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:42 am

Well then. I guess we know how this is likely to go.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:57 am

Gavin wrote:Well then. I guess we know how this is likely to go.

It depends on South African law. He still killed her, mistaken identity or not.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:03 pm

noxiousdog wrote:
Gavin wrote:Well then. I guess we know how this is likely to go.
It depends on South African law. He still killed her, mistaken identity or not.

I'm not talking full acquittal. But yeah, I don't know shit about South African law. So I guess I don't know how this is likely to go.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:05 pm

Well, looks like Pistorious' luck hasn't ended yet:

The prosecution of Oscar Pistorius has taken a dramatic turn after it emerged the detective leading the case is facing seven charges of attempted murder.

A spokesperson for the South African police service confirmed on Thursday morning that Hilton Botha and two other officers were accused of firing at a taxi carrying seven passengers during an allegedly drunken incident in 2011.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:08 pm

I really doubt his innocence but the circus involving the South African police and prosecution is really beginning to remind me of the OJ trial. I fear justice will not be served in this case.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:15 pm

Would him being a source of national pride warrant them trying to throw the trial?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:18 pm

Gavin wrote:Would him being a source of national pride warrant them trying to throw the trial?

I'm not sure. What's the cost? Exposing their criminal justice system as a complete joke?

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:20 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Gavin wrote:Would him being a source of national pride warrant them trying to throw the trial?
I'm not sure. What's the cost? Exposing their criminal justice system as a complete joke?

Yeah, it is a steep price. I'm just trying to figure out if they've decided to pay it anyways here. This is pretty embarrassing as is.

stimpy · Post by **stimpy** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:55 am

Guess they're not worried about him running away

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:24 pm

He should have gone into olympic kickboxing. Dude would have owned...

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 2:20 pm

stimpy wrote:Guess they're not worried about him running away

They're just going to let him walk?

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:25 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
stimpy wrote:Guess they're not worried about him running away
They're just going to let him walk?

They confiscated his blades, yet he still managed to leave the courtroom fully armed.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:23 am

Cleared of full murder. Full verdict to come.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:45 am

Still the likely possiblity of culpable homicide as well as:

If he is found guilty of the ammunition charge, he could face up to 15 years in prison, though the judge could opt for a lesser punishment such as a fine or the loss of his gun license.

Two other charges are related to allegations that he recklessly fired a gun in public -- once in a restaurant in 2012, and again out of the sunroof of a car last year. Pistorius denies both.

But his conduct was "negligent," she said before adjourning for the day, suggesting she will find the Olympian guilty of culpable homicide.

There is no minimum sentence for culpable homicide in South African law. It's up to the judge to decide.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:41 am

The Meal wrote:Cleared of full murder. Full verdict to come.

Huh. I had been following this somewhat in foreign press. I thought he was done for, based on the news articles I read about court testamony.

edit: Hey, are you running again? Good for you. What was your 5k time this year, if you don't mind me asking.

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:52 am

GreenGoo wrote: edit: Hey, are you running again? Good for you. What was your 5k time this year, if you don't mind me asking.

I have to answer this. He can too, but this is such a great story. The 5k he did was a fun run with Kayla. They bonded over running this year. It was one of those Color Vibe runs, and on the way there he said how he would be the only guy over 30 there and would feel super creepy. But he also knew that the paint powder would be bad for his lungs with his asthma. So, the guy who was worried about seeming creepy looked like this:

Spoiler:

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:55 am

Cool. He is towering over everyone. Musta been a short crowd. =D

I don't know what a Colour Vibe is, will take a look when I have access to a search engine.

He's not a mad scientist/doctor on the side, is he?

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:59 am

GreenGoo wrote:Cool. He is towering over everyone. Musta been a short crowd. =D

I don't know what a Colour Vibe is, will take a look when I have access to a search engine.

He's not a mad scientist/doctor on the side, is he?

They throw paint on you, and there are exploding paint tubes all over the course, and at the starting/finish line, where there's a mosh pit. It mostly attracts college girls. So, OF COURSE, he only did it for Kayla's sake, not for the eye candy.

We all know he's an evil genius, can mad scientist be that far off?

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:18 am

MHS wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Cool. He is towering over everyone. Musta been a short crowd. =D

I don't know what a Colour Vibe is, will take a look when I have access to a search engine.

He's not a mad scientist/doctor on the side, is he?
They throw paint on you, and there are exploding paint tubes all over the course, and at the starting/finish line, where there's a mosh pit. It mostly attracts college girls. So, OF COURSE, he only did it for Kayla's sake, not for the eye candy.

We all know he's an evil genius, can mad scientist be that far off?

Wow, yeah, I'd be self conscious too in that environment. What a weird run. Although a moshpit filled with only university women does have some appeal...

DarkVulgar · Post by **DarkVulgar** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:14 pm

“You're my boy, Blue! You're my boy.”

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:53 am

Five years

Judge Thokozile Masipa took more than an hour to announce her verdict Tuesday in Pretoria, nearly seven months after the high-profile trial began.

Defense lawyers said after the ruling they expect Pistorius will serve about 10 months in prison before completing his time under house arrest, in a sentence that is dividing opinion in a nation that has been riveted by his trial.

Under South African law, he must serve at least one-sixth of his sentence, about 10 months, before he can be considered for parole.
...
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel had pushed for a 10-year prison sentence, while the defense argued for house arrest and community service because they felt the double-amputee would face difficulties in prison.

Masipa said she is "satisfied" the corrections department is equipped to handle inmates with special needs, and described her verdict as "fair and just, both to society and to the accused."

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:04 am

If it includes the length of the trial, he'll be released in the morning.