Oscar pistorius

[spiderbabymum]

Heard the news this am

I'm just Devastated for him and his family and partners family

There have been a number of posters ok this thread and the other, that have lived in SA; who have expressed that it isn't a reasonable defence

True, Lost - but then research has shown that it is extremely difficult for anyone to tell if someone is lying. People want to give people the benefit of the doubt, and assume that people are generally honest and good. But sometimes people will tell huge porkies to save their arses. And their pants don't go on fire at all irl.

I have to admit I'm slightly confused by the number of posters, and there have been a few, who have said conflicting things about living in SA. Some have said they live n fear of their lives and others say its not that bad

Actually Xenia's comment has reminded me of an MN thread a while talking about burglars/intruders. The thread was full of people swearing that they would attack the burglar, defend their family at all costs and so on and these were mainly UK posters, although one (well known) poster from another country claimed that she'd even shot a burglar once.

It's sadly possible that having his girlfriend in the house may have made him even more protective and keen to disarm an intruder.

Also way more of a chance a burglar in SA would be armed than in the UK.

Dreams it really varies hugely depending on where you live. And individual risk perceptions do differ massively as well.

We occasionally live in fear of our lives... And it's not that bad. Both true, welcome to the contrary world of SA, its fantastic and its awful, its high risk yet a wonderful place to be in the moment.

My point exactly kitty, so we don't know for sure if the intruder story is believable or not. I'm guessing no one here lived on his estate?
Thanks for clarifying though it's all very confusing, we'll never know I think.

Lost, you may be right. Just musing really - especially in the wake of the jury being so useless in the Pryce trial. This probably isn't the thread to discuss it :)

absey. Would your partner going to the toilet be a strange noise though??? I think it would be a very normal and familiar noise.

Essentially that is what us wrong with the scenario OP has presented.

There are lots of noises one could make in a bathroom. Lots of small sounds. And I don't mean bodily functions.

If you got up at 3am to urinate quietly (she didn't turn lights on to go though OP was already up) what strange noises would you be making? Assuming all was well - as per OPs statement.

To everyone saying that your girlfriend going to the toilet at night isn't a strange noise - you don't know what noise it was. She could have accidentally banged into something, knocked something off a shelf, there are all sorts of possibilities.

some people cannot conceive that there are countries in this world where when you wake up in the night to a strange noise, your first thought is "intruder".
I freely admit I can't understand it. I've lived in this house for 15 years. We've been burgled and they stole 3 bottles of wine. The police said that it was probably a local druggie looking for stuff to sell quickly. The chances of them coming upstairs is slim. The chances of them being armed is negligible.
So although I understand its different, the stats you posted earlier are alarming, I still can't help but think 'why wouldn't he think its Reeva'.

Will bail be decided tomorrow?

Yes I think the bail decision will be tomorrow. Both sides have summed up now.

They had only been going out for 2 months. That means that they may not have been used to noises made by the other, she may well not have wanted to wake him, but she probably wasn't that familiar with his bedroom/bathroom either.

"To everyone saying that your girlfriend going to the toilet at night isn't a strange noise - you don't know what noise it was. She could have accidentally banged into something, knocked something off a shelf, there are all sorts of possibilities."

To which i would suggest the immediate response of any sane person (even in the most crime ridden of cities) would be:

"Darling, is that you?"; or
"Are you ok in there".

Grabbing a gun and firing 4 shots at the source of the noise through a closed door without first checking who was in there or at least considering that your girlfriend might have got out of bed for a pee comes nowhere close to a reasonable response.

Amazing weather, amazing people (so friendly, especially compared to British people), amazing food, amazing scenery - if it wasn't for the crime it would be paradise.

This rather shallow conclusion depresses me - surely "if it wasn't for the widespread poverty, deep social inequities, high rates of HIV, infant mortality, unemployment AND resultant crime" would be more apt.

This notion of South Africans as sheltering from "crime" behind their ivory towers, in a setting in which even murder is perfectly understandable, is very troubling.

Just that ^
He's clearly a violent man whichever way you chose to look at it. No warning? Not even to an intruder? Pllllllease.

currentbun, really good and interesting post.

Agree with mcmooncup on that. The first thought of anyone hearing a noise late at night in their home would be "is that my GF/DS/dog?" for the simple reason that you'd be hoping to hell that it was.

For him then to go to the bed that he thinks she'd lying in to get the gun without shaking, prodding or even speaking to her is very hard to fathom. If you're terrified you'd enlist support, surely - or at least tell her to hide or call the police or something.

I find this all hard to believe even taking into account the heightened sense of fear householders have in SA compared to here. I can't square the circle with it at all.

Yes I agree I would probably call out and say 'is that you in there?' before grabbing a gun. He was obviously completely paranoid and totally reckless regardless of his intentions and deserves to do time either way.

I mean even if he didn't believe it was Reeva he was paranoid and reckless. He still took her life and should do time for it.