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Olympian Oscar Pistorius Charged with Murder


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#1 Adam Wolff

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:27 AM

Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs.


http://espn.go.com/o... ... -steenkamp

Seems to be a possibility he mistook her for an intruder, although there are some quotes that indicate there had been some kind of domestic violence issues in the past. Will be very interesting.

This guy is basically a South African hero and if you followed the Olympics, he was one of the main storylines. By all accounts, seemed like a great guy and incredibly humble. Who knows though. Like I said, will be interesting to see what actually happened.

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#2 SportsGuy

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:38 AM

http://espn.go.com/o... ... -steenkamp

Seems to be a possibility he mistook her for an intruder, although there are some quotes that indicate there had been some kind of domestic violence issues in the past. Will be very interesting.

This guy is basically a South African hero and if you followed the Olympics, he was one of the main storylines. By all accounts, seemed like a great guy and incredibly humble. Who knows though. Like I said, will be interesting to see what actually happened.

How do you really prove this, one way or another?

Just because there were domestic issues in the past, doesn't mean he would kill her(btw, the "her" was a very hot South african model).

I heard this morning that crime is an issue in SA, so its not out of the realm of possibility that he could have thought she was an intruder.

So, outside of a confession, how does this get proven? How can they automatically charge him with murder?

#3 Mackus

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 11:26 AM

So, outside of a confession, how does this get proven? How can they automatically charge him with murder?

The amount of evidence needed to charge someone is much lower than needed to actually convict. Considering they were the only two people in the house and she was clearly shot, it seems reasonable to detain him. It may well end up just being a very tragic accident. I don't know what evidence would be needed to prove or disprove his story if indeed he is saying that he thought there was an intruder in the house. Probably have to gather how reasonable it was to think someone was in the house and whether or not he also knew that she was home. I'm sure more details will come out over the next few days and clear some stuff up, everything seems very sketchy at best in terms of what actually happened at this point.

#4 SammyBirdland

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 12:12 PM

Oooh, I remember Pistorius now. This is the guy that insisted his prosthetics don't give him a competitive advantage against able-bodied runners. Later, he got beat by another prosthetic-wearing runner and filed a compliant because he said the other runner's prosthetics gave him a competitive advantage. :lol:

http://www.guardian.... ... aralympics
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#5 Why Not?

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:28 PM

How do you really prove this, one way or another?

Just because there were domestic issues in the past, doesn't mean he would kill her(btw, the "her" was a very hot South african model).

I heard this morning that crime is an issue in SA, so its not out of the realm of possibility that he could have thought she was an intruder.

So, outside of a confession, how does this get proven? How can they automatically charge him with murder?


There could be some clear evidence we don't know about. There are any number of ways to make his intruder story less-than-believable. I read somewhere that neighbors heard arguing before hearing the gunshots. That alone would seem more consistent with a domestic murder than mistaken identity.

#6 SportsGuy

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:40 PM

There could be some clear evidence we don't know about. There are any number of ways to make his intruder story less-than-believable. I read somewhere that neighbors heard arguing before hearing the gunshots. That alone would seem more consistent with a domestic murder than mistaken identity.

True...I would like to know why he automatically started shooting.

#7 DJ MC

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:50 PM

I read earlier that there's another prominent South African that shot his own daughter to death because she was sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night and he thought someone broke in and stole his car.

At the very least I can see this explanation being his alibi if he did shoot her on purpose, and it really does seem like a reasonable excuse in that country at this point in time.

#8 SportsGuy

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:51 PM

I read earlier that there's another prominent South African that shot his own daughter to death because she was sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night and he thought someone broke in and stole his car.

At the very least I can see this explanation being his alibi if he did shoot her on purpose, and it really does seem like a reasonable excuse in that country at this point in time.

Yep...they talked about the high rate of gun related deaths and that there is a lot of crime in SA.

#9 Why Not?

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 09:10 AM

The charge has been upgraded to premeditated murder. The authorities are not buying Pistorius' story at all.

#10 Icterus galbula

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:22 AM

The charge has been upgraded to premeditated murder. The authorities are not buying Pistorius' story at all.


Yeah, apparently police were called out to their place earlier in the night following an argument. She was also shot through the bathroom door.

http://www.nbcsports...com/id/50819918

#11 Oriole85

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:44 AM

Even if he's telling the truth, it seems very hard to believe how you mistake your girlfriend. It seems like an alibi every murder suspect should use.

Hindsight... but why didn't he hire a bodyguard?
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#12 Can_of_corn

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:53 AM

So is the defense going to claim she was a replicant?
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Well I hear Linda Ronstadt is looking for a guitar player.


#13 SportsGuy

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 11:25 AM

http://espn.go.com/o... ... police-say

Good chance he gets off imo.

#14 NewMarketSean

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 11:34 AM

I think it could go either way.

I find the whole thing fishy myself, especially if he grabbed his gun from under the bed where his GF was supposed to be sleeping. Wouldn't he noticed she wasn't in bed at that time?
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#15 KWebz

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:21 PM

I think it could go either way.

I find the whole thing fishy myself, especially if he grabbed his gun from under the bed where his GF was supposed to be sleeping. Wouldn't he noticed she wasn't in bed at that time?


Agreed that its fishy but to play devil's advocate he could not have been thinking clearly having just woken up. NPR did a little coverage on this today and the defense is really playing up him feeling vulnerable because he didnt have his prosthetics and the high crime rate in South Africa. NPR then went on to talk about the complex feelings fans experience when sports "heros" committ terrible crimes (giving Tiger Woods and ARod as other examples).

#16 Oriole85

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:30 PM

http://espn.go.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/8965442/oscar-pistorius-shouting-witness-4-blocks-away-police-say

Good chance he gets off imo.

The richer you are=the better lawyers you can afford=the more likely you can get off. We've seen this movie before.
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#17 Mackus

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:35 PM

I think we'll never know if it was intentional or not. There certainly is a compelling and believable case that it was accidental. I think he'll almost certainly be found not guilty, unless some new forensics evidence comes out that can give us more facts in a situation that is essentially just Pistorius' word.

#18 NewMarketSean

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:38 PM

I think it should come down to firing into a room with a closed door when you don't know who is inside -- even if it is a burglar. Even if he doesn't get found guilty he should serve time for being that irresponsible.
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#19 Oriole85

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:39 PM

On the surface it seems like a good alibi, I'm very skeptical that was the case however. And like has been said above, it's hard to know for certain unless you were actually there if it was intentional or not.
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#20 SammyBirdland

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Posted 20 February 2013 - 12:41 PM

She was locked in the bathroom. He got out of bed, put on his legs, got his gun, and shot through the bathroom door 5 times, hitting her four times. She was cowering on the floor while he was shooting. That means she knew she was getting shot at, it wasn't a boom-you're-dead situation.

Dude will be in jail for a long time.
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