The Curious Case Of Oscar Pistorius Who Murdered His Girlfriend On Valentine
Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend after he mistook her for an intruder hiding in his bathroom
Ten years ago, one of humanity's most complex and mysterious cases ever occurred on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The previous night, Oscar Pistorius - a Paralympic gold medalist - had had dinner in his apartment with Reeva Steenkamp, his 29-year-old girlfriend whom he had been dating for three months.
In the early hours of Thursday morning February 14, Pistorius heard an intruder come into his home and realized that someone was hiding in his bathroom.
He grabbed his 9mm pistol from under his bed, made his way to the bathroom in pitch black darkness, and fired four shots at the door.
This is the curious case of Oscar Pistorius who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, grounding a nation to a standstill and plunging the world into a decade of agonizing mystery and riveting obsessions.
🔴 Oscar Pistorius was born without fibulas and his knees were amputated a month before his first birthday
🔴 He allegedly had a history of domestic violence and though his relationship with Reeva Steenkamp lasted only three months, they argued regularly
🔴 During his hearing, he once shook so uncontrollably from crying and vomiting that he crumbled against the witness stand and the court was adjourned
When Oscar Pistorius was born on November 22, 1986, he never would've known that a month before his first birthday, his two legs would be amputated because he had no fibulas.
Six months later, he learned to walk on fibreglass and was inspired by his parents to participate in sports until he injured his knee in 2003 while playing rugby.
At six years old, his parents got divorced; when he turned 15, his mother died from an adverse drug reaction following a hysterectomy.
At 17 in 2004, Oscar Pistorius competed in his first-ever Paralympic Games winning a bronze and gold medal at a world record time of 21.97 seconds.
Three years later, he began racing able-bodied athletes in international competitions and made history at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London as the first double-leg amputee ever to compete in the tournament.
Oscar Pistorius did not win the 2012 Olympics - crashing out at the semifinals - but his story and running blades, the Cheetahs, had become so famous worldwide that the 2012 London Olympics Games was named Most-Watched Event in U.S. History.
"I do not run like a man running aimlessly." — 1 Corinthians 9:26
The Bible verse was tattooed on his left shoulder and incredibly, Oscar Pistorius was not running aimlessly as his astronomical rise to stardom continued.
Oscar Pistorius was named the New Face Of A*Men, a multimillion luxurious men's perfume brand owned by now-deceased Thierry Mugler in 2011.
Throughout the Olympics, he was an ambassador of the brand and his stocks rose even higher as he became known as the 'Blade Runner', an accolade to his lightning speed and famous Cheetahs.
In February 2013, Thierry Mugler who once worked as an artistic advisor to Beyoncé created a promotional ad featuring Oscar Pistorius on Times Square, New York.
He was also featured on GQ Magazine having made their Men Of The Year list in 2011 and was named in TIME's 100 Most Influential People Of The Year list for 2012.
Oscar Pistorius earned an estimated $2 million a year and his success attracted multiple lucrative endorsement contracts.
He was one of the most in-demand sports personalities and signed sponsorship deals with major brands including fashion company Oakley, Nike, and UK's BT Group (now known as TNT).
Oscar Pistorius inspired millions of people around the world and his story was a bedrock of success for children, young people, and athletes hoping to break barriers to reach the highest levels of sport.
But as the year cracked on into February 2013, Oscar Pistorius' life took a drastic turn: one he never recovered from and dictated the rest of his life as his popularity plummeted with his stocks crashing to the dark, scary depths of the ocean.
Multi-Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius was described as a charming, polite, and sporting hero with "boyish good looks."
He had his first girlfriend Vicky Miles in 2006 and for Valentine in February 2007, he snuck over to her home at night, decorating the trees, fence, and driveway with 200 colored balloons.
Oscar Pistorius began dating Reeva Steenkamp in November 2012 but had reportedly had a litany of previous romantic relationships in the past. His relationship with Reeva Steenkamp was compared by local media to David Beckham's with wife Victoria Beckham.
Vanity Fair writer Mark Seal said: "People saw them and thought, 'Wow, they're so attractive.'
"They were like stars."
Reeva Steenkamp was a 29-year-old model, aspiring actress, and law graduate with a degree from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Steenkamp was also a fierce domestic violence advocate and decried the decadent scourge of violence against women in South Africa that was responsible for the death of about 2,500 women annually.
Reeva Steenkamp had her first modeling shoot at age 15 and appeared in several TV commercials for top magazines. In 2012, she secured a role on the South African reality TV show Tropika Island Of Treasure 5.
Oscar Pistorius had met Reeva Steenkamp at the popular Formula 1 Grand Prix race track Kyalami on November 4, 2012. They quickly became friends and attended an award ceremony together that same night as their relationship kicked on into the new year with the couple thrust into the spotlight.
Steenkamp was loving, gentle, and accepting; Pistorius was polite, charming, and had an unbelievable success story.
A Beckham-esque relationship it came across to the media but in reality, Steenkamp's dream relationship with Pistorius was mired with violent arguments. According to Steenkamp's mother, Reeva had told her:
"We're fighting a lot."
On the evening of February 13, 2013, Reeva Steenkamp spent the night with Oscar Pistorius at his apartment where they had a "quiet dinner." She gifted him a Valentine present and told him to open it the next day.
By 10 p.m., she practised her usual yoga routines while Pistorius watched television with his prosthetics off, then she got into bed and they fell asleep.
In the early hours of Valentine's Day February 14, Oscar Pistorius thought he heard someone come into his apartment. He had received death threats from intruders in the past and been a burglary victim so he slept with a gun under his bed.
As he realized that someone was hiding in his bathroom, Oscar Pistorius "felt a sense of terror" rushing over him and was too scared to turn on the light. He did not have his prosthetics on and "felt extremely vulnerable." He knew he had to protect Reeva and if the intruder came out of the bathroom, they'd be trapped with the bedroom door locked.
In pitch black darkness, Oscar Pistorius grabbed his 9mm pistol from under his bed, found his way to the bathroom on his stumps without prosthetics, and screamed for the intruder to get out of his house. He also shouted at Steenkamp whom he thought was sleeping on the bed to phone the police.
And then he fired four shots at the bathroom.
WARNING: The following images have graphic content viewers could find distressing
As he retreated from the bathroom door, he shouted at Reeva to phone the police but she did not respond. When he got to the bed, he was horrified to realize that she was not in bed.
And then it dawned on him it could have been Reeva in the bathroom.
He quickly rushed back and screamed her name at the bathroom door. She wasn't responding.
He tried to open the door but it was locked from inside. He rushed into the bedroom again, opened the sliding door exiting the balcony, and screamed for help.
Oscar Pistorius then put on his prosthetic legs, scrambled to the bathroom, kicked it with his prosthetics, before smashing it open with a cricket bat. There, he found Reeva Steenkamp slumped over on the toilet cubicle, unresponsive but alive.
He pulled her out of the bathroom, phoned his estate administrator asking him to call for an ambulance, and carried her downstairs to be taken to the hospital.
But she died in his arms.
The curious case of Oscar Pistorius killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp plunged South Africa into turmoil.
Horrific as it was, the case was one of the most trending topics in 2013 and highlighted the moral decadence steeped deep in the South African society whose struggles to transcend from apartheid were laid threadbare for the world to witness.
The Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder on February 15.
The case raised questions on Pistorius' alleged history of domestic violence, Steenkamp's pregnancy state at the time of her murder, and if Oscar Pistorius knew that he was shooting his girlfriend.
Oscar Pistorius was dropped as an ambassador of A*Men and all promotional campaigns including billboards where he featured in were withdrawn. Oakley canceled his contract and Nike confirmed they had "no further plans" to use him in advertisements.
The success story had come to an end. His record and reputation as the groundbreaking 'Blade Runner' had been completely obliterated and replaced with three words by TIME Magazine that read:
Oscar Pistorius' murder trial began at the High Court in Pretoria on March 4, 2014, and was broadcast live to tens of millions of people worldwide after media agencies had applied to the court, asking for "comprehensive access" to the courtroom.
On April 7, 2014, Oscar Pistorius took the stand for the first time kicking off over 40 days of intense emotions, powerful testimonies, psychological trauma, and legal proceedings that had the whole world in a chokehold.
The magistrate had already initially decided that the murder charge against him would be categorized as "schedule 6", the most serious charge possible under South African law meaning he would not be able to secure bail.
📌 Oscar Pistorius gave his testimony of how he thought an intruder had come into his home, how scared he was, his firing of four shots through the bathroom door, and the eventual murder of Reeva Steenkamp who was hit with three bullets.
Earlier in February after the incident, AP News uncovered that Oscar Pistorius had applied for firearm licenses to six more guns weeks before he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp with the 9mm Parabellum pistol.
📌 In court, Oscar Pistorius argued that he no intention to kill his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and when his affidavit was read out to the packed courtroom, he shook so uncontrollably from grief that the magistrate had to suspend the proceedings "out of human compassion."
📌 A request was made by prosecutors for Pistorius to be sent to a mental health hospital after his defence attorneys argued that he suffered from "generalized anxiety disorder" at the time of the shooting incident.
While giving his testimony, Oscar Pistorius wobbled in the courtroom with his stumps to demonstrate his difficult locomotion on the day of the shooting.
📌 The court also heard affidavits from friends of Pistorius and Steenkamp who noted how happy the couple were, Steenkamp's distress with how "fast" the relationship was moving, and how Reeva Steenkamp confided in a friend that if Oscar Pistorius proposed a marriage, she would "probably say 'yes' ".
📌 WhatsApp messages between the couple were also presented in court revealing fights but occasional loving moments, how they trusted each other, and Steenkamp's struggles in dealing with the global attention her relationship with Pistorius got.
However, the prosecution pressed for a charge of premeditated murder saying:
"The applicant shot an unarmed and innocent woman."
📌 Pistorius' account of acting in "self-defence" and being ignorant that Reeva Steenkamp was in the bathroom when he shot his gun was branded as a fabrication "all part of the pre-planning" by the prosecution.
The prosecution alleged that Pistorius and Steenkamp had gotten into a "heated argument" heard by neighbors the previous night, that Oscar Pistorius "fired four shots through the door whilst knowing that she was standing behind the door."
The prosecution further alleged that Reeva Steenkamp "was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her."
Pistorius denied all allegations.
Oscar Pistorius was also alleged to have a proven track record of domestic violence.
📌 Though he was never arrested on any of the charges, CBS News in 2014 reported that in 2009, he had allegedly broken a woman's leg after slamming a door and then punching it at a house party.
📌 WhatsApp messages between Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius were also revealed by NBC News allegedly highlighting a relationship with a history of arguments and how Steenkamp was afraid of him at times.
📌 Testimonies were also heard in court from Pistorius' former girlfriend who claimed that he had a temper, cheated on her multiple times, and once fired his pistol out of an open sunroof because he was angry a policeman had stopped his car and touched his gun.
📌 Reeva Steenkamp's mother spoke of how difficult her daughter's relationship with Pistorius was and confirmed that at the time of her death, Reeva Steenkamp was not pregnant. Her sister Simone Steenkamp allegedly revealed a WhatsApp message from Reeva to Pistorius that read:
"I can't be attacked by outsiders for dating you AND be attacked by you, the one person I deserve protection from."
Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of premeditated murder and second-degree murder on September 11, 2014, although his actions were described as "negligent."
The trial judge, judge Thokozile Masipa found no evidence that he wanted to kill his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but found him guilty of culpable homicide as he acted "too hastily and used excessive force."
Oscar Pistorius was to serve five years in jail and could be bailed after serving just one year in prison.
The sentence incited outrage among women's right groups and advocates against rape and domestic violence in South Africa, sparking heated arguments in other parts of the world.
The trial judge was fiercely criticised for failing to answer the key legal question "whether any reasonable person should have foreseen that firing so many bullets through a door was likely to cause death, whoever was thought to be on the other side."
The manslaughter verdict was appealed and overturned by the Supreme Court Of Appeal in December 2015, finding Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder on the principle dolus eventualis as he should've known that firing so many shots was likely to kill whoever was behind the locked door.
In July 2016, Oscar Pistorius was sent back to jail for six years, on a reduced standard 15-year minimum sentence sought by the prosecutors.
Sixteen months later in November 2017, the Supreme Court Of Appeal accepted the argument of state prosecutors that his initial jail term was "shockingly lenient" and Oscar Pistorius' murder jail term was extended to 13 years and five months.
In October 2022, Oscar Pistorius met with Reeva Steenkamp's father as part of South Africa's restorative justice programme to offer closure to families of victims. A year later, Reeva Steenkamp's father died in his sleep on September 15, 2023.
In March 2023, Oscar Pistorius applied for parole after serving half of his 13-year sentence but his request was denied as prison authorities argued he had failed to serve the minimum detention period required.
In October of the same year, the Constitutional Court overturned the previous decision on his parole request, arguing that he had in fact served half of his sentence by March 21, 2023, and was therefore eligible for parole.
The next month in October, the Department Of Correctional Services approved January 5, 2024, as Oscar Pistorius' release date on parole in a sentence that it was "able to confirm that Oscar Pistorius is a parolee, effectively from 5 January 2024. He was admitted into the system of Community Corrections and is now at home."
After serving nine of his 13 years and five months murder sentence, Oscar Pistorius was finally released on parole on January 5, 2024. Until his sentence expires in December 2029, Oscar Pistorius will remain under the supervision of South Africa's Department Of Correctional Services under:
📌 restrictions on his movements when he's allowed to leave home,
📌 total ban on alcohol consumption,
📌 orders to attend anger management and violence against women programmes, and
📌 mandatory community service.
Speaking on Oscar Pistorius' release from jail on parole, Reeva Steenkamp's mother June Steenkamp said that as part of South African law, she accepted the terms of Pistorius' release.
"Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back," June Steenkamp said. "We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence."
"With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, my only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy."
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