Most everyone is aware of the murder charges being sought against Oscar Pistorius in South Africa for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, a double amputee since childhood, was known as the "blade runner" for running Olympic track events on two carbon fiber prosthetic legs. He denies the charges, claims to have been in fear for his life due to what he thought was an intruder, and says it was an accident.
At this point, it would seem the only person that knows for sure what happened is Pistorius himself. Yet, some very strange goings-on are afoot in this case.
The police originally claimed to find syringes and testosterone in OP's home. Perhaps they surmised some sort of 'roid rage caused him to intentionally kill Steenkamp. Now, incredibly, they've admitted they don't know what the substance is because it hasn't even been tested yet. Pistorius, through his lawyer, is claiming it was some sort of "herbal remedy".
Other early evidence said a neighbor heard a prolonged shouting match between Oscar and Reeva not long before the shooting happened. Then the lead investigator testified the "neighbor" lived about 600 yards away. 600 YARDS? And they heard an argument from inside one house to inside another 6 football fields away? That stretches the limits of credibility a bit.
The investigator, one Hilton Botha, admits to walking through the Pistorius/Steenkamp residence without wearing protective footwear, thereby possibly contaminating the "crime" scene, and also said the police have lost track of some of the ammunition they found. Further, Botha admitted he has no evidence to contradict Pistorius' account of what happened. At that point, a reasonable person might ask -- if even the head cop himself says there's no evidence against him -- then just why, pray tell, is Pistorius sitting in jail, much less being charged with premeditated murder?
In a truly bizarre turn of events, it turns out that Botha himself is awaiting trial on 7 counts of attempted murder. The very detective investigating the Pistorius case has THAT hanging over his head, and he's on active duty out running around looking for other "criminals"? Unbelievable.
Despite these setbacks, the prosecutor keeps plowing ahead, as they are known to do sometimes. Whether or not Pistorius will ever actually go to trial is unknown at this time.
If so, the above would certainly be a lot to digest for any potential jurors, but even that seems to stray from the norm. If my information is correct, there are no juries in South Africa. Just the judge.
Never having been there, yours truly has no idea how the wheels of justice turn in South Africa. It is only hoped they eventually root out the truth, whatever it may be.
Regardless, there is no doubt this a tragedy. A beautiful young woman lost her life. But as things continue to unfold -- it keeps getting stranger and stranger.....
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