The last few days has given rise to allot of debate and more questions by far then answers I can only imagine tomorrow is going to premote a huge surge in our debate as we are now coming on to the actual shooting and the time following. Some of the questions that have been asked here over this weekend are very likely to be put to OP.
I imagine in the period after her shot Reeva there are going to be lots of 'I don't remember' (I think that is understandable really and not suspicious) and lots of tears. Think tomorrow is going to be a hard day for all, Reeva's family will be front and center in my thoughts.
There was one thing about the bathroom window and the bail statement I wanted to comment on.
In the bail statement OP said that the sound of the opening window in the bathroom caused him such alarm as that window didn't have burgler bars. I have seen again and again in comments people basing opinion on him using those words (that window didn't have bars to freaked him out more for example) however I was slightly taken aback when in his testimony when talking about his home security arrangements OP stated that NON if the windows had burgler bars. It all adds up to my belief that OPs claims to have been overly worried about security in reality don't hold much water, his attitude seems to have been that he had a gun he was willing to use and that was the only security he needed. At the end of the day I find it really hard to argue that is anything other then an excuse. A rational he had talked himself into so that he could carry a cool gun with him at all times and one day if he was very lucky he might just be able to shoot somebody with it. If you take that mind set and run with it a little further you can come to the hypothesis that he neglected general security in an attempt to make that magic day when he could shoot somebody with his gun that little but more likely.
I started out thinking that it had to have happened like the States case laid out as it just didn't make any sence otherwise but over the weeks of the trail so far I have actually swung over to thinking that the highest likelyhoid is that he saw an excuse to use his gun and in that split second everything else in the world fell away, in his mind there where two facts and two facts alone in the world, there was someone in his house and he got to shoot them. Poor Reeva couldn't compete with that and didn't occur to him, in that moment she didn't exist.
I could still be wrong. We are only just at the half way point and there is a whole lot of evidence left to come and my mind may be swayed yet again. I am deaply surprised that it has swayed as it has, I didn't expect it.
I hope we can continue to talk it all out between us as the case moves on, the different points of view are invaluable in trying to form a balanced view of what potentially happened that night. One thing we can all agree on is Reeva didn't deserve to die and her death is a tragedy and hopefully her death can go on to help others be that be highlighting how many woman die every week by the hand of their partner, how many people die from 'friendly fire' every week, how bad the gun crime levels are in SA, how much reform is still needed within the SA police. How putting people on pedestals because they can run fast and have a disability does not make them untouchable angels who can do no wrong. Our sports heros (and general celebs) are just people with all the same potential for human flaws as the rest of the population. Hopefully Reeva can still achieve thing with her life.