Murder, Mystery & Makeup - World Famous Olympian turned murderer?? Did He Do it or Honest Mistake?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi friends, how are you today? My name is Bailey Sarian and today is Monday, which means it's Murder, Mystery, and Makeup Monday. Hi! If you're new here, hi, my name is Bailey Sarian and on Mondays I sit down and I talk about a true crime story that's been heavy on my noggin and I do my makeup at the same time. If you're interested in true crime and you like makeup, I would say subscribe because I'm here for you on Mondays. So today we are diving deep into a story that has like all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. Oh yes, a world famous athlete, a beautiful model, a brutal crime, and a courtroom drama that really captivated the world. Today I'm going to be talking about Oscar Pistorius,

Starting point is 00:00:47 the man who went from being a celebrated sports hero to a convicted murderer. Oscar's story isn't just about like one night of violence. It's a tale of triumph, fame, and a fall from grace that really shocked everyone. So let's start at the beginning, right? We always do with the birth of a baby boy who would go on to be known as the Blade Runner. Oscar Pistorius was born November 22nd, 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. His family wasn't the wealthiest by any means, but they were comfortable when he was growing up. Like the family lived a decent middle class life. So when Oscar was born, I guess it was clear from like the start that his life would be anything but ordinary.

Starting point is 00:01:37 He was born with a congenital birth defect known as fibular hemimelia. Try not to laugh, but if only you knew how long I've been sitting here trying to get that, get that word out of me. So basically what I'm trying to say is he was born without the fibula in both of his legs. Now the fibula is kind of important. It's like one of the two long bones in your lower leg. Now it's a crucial bone because it supports the larger tibia. And without it, walking can be a severe challenge. Now this condition, fibular hemimelia, I guess is like, it's pretty rare. And it happens early in pregnancy between like the sixth and the eighth week when the limb buds are forming. Now the exact cause I guess is like it's still a mystery.

Starting point is 00:02:28 It's possible that it has something to do with the activation of the genes responsible for forming the baby's legs but they don't really know. No one really knows. For some the condition is mild affecting just like one limb and it can be corrected with surgery but in Oscar's case the deformity was pretty severe so I guess his feet were also malformed he had just like two toes on each foot the big toe and the index so upon the doctor's recommendation, the parents, you know, they had to make a tough decision and they decided to just have Oscar's legs amputated from like halfway between the knee and the ankle at just 11 months old. You know, the doctor just assured it was going to be like the best option for him. So Oscar was fitted with prosthetics before he turned two years old. And then by 17 months, he was walking.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But Oscar's life wasn't all like hardships and challenges. Like things were good. He came from a loving family. His parents, they ended up getting divorced when he was like seven years old. And you know, divorce can be like really tough on kids. for Oscar I don't want to say it was it wasn't bad because I'm sure it hurt in some way but like he was lucky that both of his parents remained actively involved in his life I know shocker I was like wow rare in these stories huh so oscar would mainly live with his mother and his mom was said to be

Starting point is 00:04:08 like strong supportive you know she also made sure that he maintained a relationship with his father there were like no strict rules about visitation with daddy and all of the kids were encouraged to spend time with with both parents so oscar's parents they wanted him to spend his kid years and his teenage years like any other kid his age so they sent him to a mainstream school instead of going to like a school for children with special needs. And it was said from a very young age, he developed a passion for sports. So it was said in school that he just threw himself into a variety of activities from tennis to cricket, soccer, gymnastics, wrestling, you name it. Oscar was all up in it. He would even go on to compete in triathlons and he would lift weights with his dad. I mean, nothing was stopping this

Starting point is 00:05:15 guy. He ended up getting his very first medal in wrestling. I don't know how, but like, again, nothing was stopping this guy. So as a teenager, Oscar attended Pretoria Boys High School. It was an English language boarding school. And when he was here, he found himself in like a whole new world. It was the first time he was living outside of Johannesburg. And while he, he definitely had to participate or like endure the typical hazing of a boarding school for the most part he was largely like accepted by his peers so oscar started playing rugby and water polo you know very serious sports especially for someone like not trying to be mean but you know like he had prosthetic legs but he was making a freaking work okay nothing was stopping this kid by this time when he was playing these sports he was using a much lighter hooked shape prosthesis but you know these aren't

Starting point is 00:06:19 really perfect you know they often i guess they they broke a lot which would cause him a lot of frustration especially when he's trying to like kick butt and then it would break on him then at the age of 15 oscar experienced another life-altering event his mom ended up passing away following like complications from a hysterectomy. Yeah, completely unexpected, you know, and this was devastating to Oscar. His mom was like his rock. She was always there to support him, encourage him. Her death seemed to like just leave a major void, you know, that would never be filled but oscar his life you know his life goes on and in 2003 while playing rugby he ended up like injuring his knee at first he didn't like think it was a big deal right he ended up like finishing the match but by the next day it was very clear to

Starting point is 00:07:21 him that something was seriously wrong. So this injury that he got it didn't require surgery but it did require extensive rehab which included running and water aerobics and it was around this time that Oscar started wearing his new prostheses. It's called the like the cheetah first of all. I was like wow cool. It's a different kind of design. Okay these were like game changers for him and they were the ones that he could he would wear throughout his whole athletic career. It was like this hook shape. I forget what it was made out of but it wouldn't snap like all the other ones would. And it was just groundbreaking. His first race with the cheetahs was a 100 meter sprint. And he ended up clocking in at 11.72 seconds. Now his dad was like, holy Toledo, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:22 he was so impressed. So he started like looking up, his dad started looking up times that other people have done this. And he realized that Oscar, his time would actually qualify him for a world record in his Paralympic category. So once his dad and Oscar like realized that, you know, he was good, he was real good, you know, Oscar was about to take the world by storm. himself into intense training. He ended up qualifying for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, where he ended up winning silver in the 100 meters and 100 meter, 100 meters. He won silver. And then he got gold in the 200 meters. So he completely set a new world record. Do you know how hard that is to do? Yeah, you know how hard it is to do. Like what? This guy? He did. He was doing it. He set these new world records, but Oscar was not satisfied. He wanted to compete outside of the disabled races. In 2005, he competed in the Southan championships and he ended up coming in sixth

Starting point is 00:09:45 in the 400 meters it was like his first race against abled bodied athletes sixth place i mean that's pretty damn good right and like he didn't stop there by 2007 he was competing internationally finishing second in the gold gala 400 meters race which was in rome but you know like you win some you lose some because he ended up competing in another race in sheffield where he would end up like finishing last as oscars fame grew so did the scrutiny people started to question like hey are his prosthetic legs giving him an unfair advantage? You know, they bounce, feet don't bounce, you know, they're just like looking for reasons to pick it apart. In 2007, the International Amateur Athletic Federation, or IAAF, they expanded their rules to ban any,

Starting point is 00:10:40 quote, technical device that incorporates springs, wheels, or any other element. You know, their reason was like they believe that it gave the athlete an advantage, essentially. To Oscar and like a lot of people, it felt like they were specifically targeting Oscar, his cheetahs, and like anything like that. The IAAF, they said it was because like there was these new shoes out that had springs in the bottom of them. And they were like, no, no, we did this because we want to make sure those shoes don't make it in to the competition. But again, a lot of people thought like, hmm, just seems like it's against Oscar. Oscar, you know, when he heard this, he fought back. He got a team together. He got a team of like scientists together to prove that his prostheses

Starting point is 00:11:25 did not give him a fair unfair advantage sorry unfair advantage so the ruling was essentially overturned which would allow um oscar to compete but the controversy really never died down like people people really thought like it was truly unfair so despite you know the ongoing debate oscar made history in 2012 by qualifying for the 400 meters and the 4x400 relay at the summer olympics in lond. First double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games. Pretty groundbreaking, you know? Now he didn't win, but his participation in itself, again, was groundbreaking because he was the first double amputee to race in the Olympic Games, like, right? So Oscar, he had carried like the South African flag in the Olympic games, like, right? So Oscar, he had carried like the South African flag in the closing ceremony.

Starting point is 00:12:27 And then he went on to win gold in the four by 100 meters. And he won silver in the 200 meters at the 2012 Paralympics. So he's kicking ass, okay? Just wouldn't seem like Oscar Pistorius was like on the top of the world really his life took a dark and tragic turn riva steenkamp was born in cape town south africa in 1983 now she was stunning she was beautiful she intelligent. She was able to juggle a law degree

Starting point is 00:13:08 and be like a successful model. Wow. You know, by 2007, she had moved to Johannesburg after being chosen as like the face of Avon in South Africa. Avon the makeup company. So she was now the face of Avon. Now at this time, her career was on the rise. She had big plans. She even like applied to the bar in 2011, hoping, you know, to qualify as a legal advocate by 2013. I guess she and her friend had discussed like possibly starting a law firm that would be meant to help abused women. So then

Starting point is 00:13:57 November 2012 Reva and Oscar they ended up meeting. I guess they met through like mutual friends. They were at some kind of car event. They were introduced and they must've just hit it off. Their relationship, like it became public pretty quickly. Both at this time were well-known figures in South Africa and they were good looking, you know, and they just attracted a lot of media attention by all accounts they were both deeply in love you know and it wouldn't be long it was like months later their love story comes with like a devastating end just like months later that's where it gets a little

Starting point is 00:14:38 funky right here so it's valentine's day 2013 it's like the early morning. Oscar woke up in the middle of the night and he fired four shots with a gun, four shots through the locked door of his bathroom. Well, let me rephrase that. He shot at the bathroom door, which was locked and somebody was on the other end. He said that morning or late at night, he heard a window open and he believed that there was an intruder and this intruder had entered the house. So he said that he panicked.

Starting point is 00:15:18 He got up out of bed and he walked on his stumps. He grabbed his gun and then he fired thinking he was defending himself from this intruder right and he would later say he believed that Riva was sleeping in bed next to him so according to Oscar he you know came down the hallway towards the bathroom with a gun in hand he then shouted down the hall to the bathroom for the intruder to flee oscar said that he needed or he wanted to get between this intruder and riva and that he needed to approach this person because he oscar couldn't run away without his legs That's when he fired four shots from his nine millimeter pistol. And then Oscar realized, he said he then realized that Reva wasn't in bed. And at that moment, the horrifying truth had dawned on him that he had just shot and killed his girlfriend. So the bathroom door was locked

Starting point is 00:16:29 but behind the door was Reva. Reva was shot in the head pelvis in the hand. I guess she had she died almost instantly. Well 9-1-1 was called and so the paramedics they arrive on the scene but you know at that point when they showed up it was too late her body was removed around 8 30 a.m and oscar pistorius was taken into custody and was being charged with murder so details start coming out you know and they're just swirling around because people don't know whether like Oscar is telling the truth. Was it really just like this awful accident where he was trying to protect himself and his lover from an intruder? Or had he intentionally killed Reva after a heated argument. Now, according to Oscar, it was like he heard this intruder and he didn't put on his prosthetic legs. He just got up, he grabbed his gun and he wanted to

Starting point is 00:17:33 confront the intruder and protect Reva. So he just like saw that the door was shut. I guess saw that the light was on and just shot at the door. That was his reasoning. But a lot of people out there are like, like dude the first thing i would do is like look to see if my partner's there if my partner's not there then i would assume it was them if they are there then i would like act but you wouldn't just shoot at a door you would wait for a confrontation so there's a lot of like i don't know dude i don't know like he's not dumb but according to os, because he didn't have his prosthetic legs on it to him was like, I have to shoot this person because I can't run away and I can't defend

Starting point is 00:18:10 myself. That was his reasoning. I don't fucking know, bro. I don't know what this one. So, you know, the media is reporting on this. People were like, shock, stun, what? Like they just couldn't wrap their head around this. Who do you believe so oscar's ex girlfriend gotta love an ex-girlfriend because you know she's gonna got she's gonna have the truth her name is samantha taylor now she would later testify that oscar was quick to anger and that he would often scream at her and her family she even even went on to say that Oscar cheated on her multiple times. And he never went anywhere without his gun. Now, does that make him a murderer?

Starting point is 00:18:56 No, but doesn't look good, right? But then she said, she said, this is the ex-girlfriend. She said that there were a couple of times that he had drawn his gun and fired it out of anger on more than one occasion so i wonder what this is like a side note and has nothing to do with anything but i wonder what he was so mad about like he had such a loving mom usually like when you have a shit mom or something you like you know it kind of this whole anger thing makes sense it doesn't make sense but you get what I'm saying like but he had such a loving mom so I don't know what am I getting at I don't know it's just like different you know so Reva's

Starting point is 00:19:37 family was convinced that like the killing was not an accident and you know they weren't the only ones who felt this way again the media the media was all over this and the public opinion was divided some people truly believe that like you know well they saw oscar as like a tragic figure a man who just he made a terrible mistake in the heat of the moment trying to protect his home and his loved one. And then others believe that he was like this cold-blooded killer who had finally just like snapped and shown his true colors. So on March 3rd, 2014, Oscar Pistorius, his trial started and it was at the Pretoria High Court. So the prosecution was arguing that the killing was premeditated. They presented evidence from neighbors. Now these neighbors

Starting point is 00:20:32 said that they heard a domestic squabble around 3 a.m. followed by gunshots. There were some that even said that they heard a woman scream before the gunshots had fired. They heard screaming. Now, Oscar's defense argued that it was actually him screaming and he was screaming at the intruder to like, I don't know, stop or something. But Oscar's team was like, yeah, it was him. He was the one screaming. Now the trial, it was a media sensation. I mean, every detail was scrutinized. Every piece of evidence dissected. People just really didn't know what to believe.

Starting point is 00:21:12 Prosecutors said that morning, Oscar, he had time to put on his prosthetic legs. And to them, this was showing the court that he was not in a hurry as he said he was, but rather that he was cool and collected as he went to kill his girlfriend. Now, listen, this was like the big debate. If he put on his legs to them, this meant that it was premeditated. If he didn't put on his prosthetic legs, then that meant he was truly like in a hurry, just like trying to confront the killer or the person who broke in.

Starting point is 00:21:52 So they were focusing hard on this part. The defense, they even brought in the bathroom door as evidence to show the angle of the bullet holes. And by these angles, it proved that Oscar was not wearing his prosthetic legs meaning it was not premeditated. They were arguing that you know without his prosthetic legs he was very vulnerable and which explained like his panicked response. The prosecution, they also pointed out that Reva had brought her phone with her into the bath.

Starting point is 00:22:28 Remember, it's like 3 a.m. or something like that. So she brought her phone with her into the bathroom. They believed, and they were saying that she was trying to call someone to like come and pick her up, call someone for help, just call someone. The defense came back and said, you know, she's just

Starting point is 00:22:45 a young woman she's just attached to her phone like everyone else like that's why she brought her phone with her I don't know how I feel about that one I'm trying to think about it because like I get it like being attached to your phone and like bring it with you everywhere but like if you got up from sleep let's say to go to the bathroom the first thing I don't know about you guys but I know I don't grab my phone if I've woken up from sleep to go to the bathroom the first thing I don't know about you guys but I know I don't grab my phone if I've woken up from sleep to go to the bathroom I take my phone if like I'm being shady if I'm trying to low-key call someone or text someone and not get caught I'll lock myself in the bathroom I don't do that now but like I used to you know you'd go in the bathroom lock the door and be like fuck right but we don't know we don't know like what she was doing but again Oscar's team they were

Starting point is 00:23:31 like Oscar and Reva they had just bought each other presents recently remember it was Valentine's Day they had just bought each other presents so they were in a good spot in their relationship they got presents and therefore oscar did not plan to the murder presence that's why which might be true i don't know the defense countered by saying that oscar's actions were those of a terrified man, a man who felt he had no choice but to defend himself and his loved one. They argued that Oscar was suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, which made him hypervigilant, hypervigilant. There we go. Also prone to panic.

Starting point is 00:24:24 Therefore, this is why he reacted the way he did side note my opinion i don't know if you are trying to protect your loved one wouldn't your first response to be like when you heard someone come in you wake up you look over is my loved one there if they are and i'm hearing a noise then I react if I wake up because I hear something would your response be to just go and not look right that part doesn't make sense and then they're saying like look just because he didn't have his prosthetic legs on it meant that it wasn't premeditated but like you know I don't know I don't know I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe he thought that part through. Maybe he's like, Hey, if I don't put on my prosthetic legs and I can be like, I didn't know

Starting point is 00:25:14 I'm helpless. Just the point of him waking up and reacting and not checking her in the bed. It to me, that is suspicious. Okay. That that's questionable that and she was in that bathroom with her phone probably like fuck i need to get the fuck out of here did anyone look up like what she was searching on her phone i should have looked that up i can't remember i don't remember that being brought up but you know too many questions the prosecution had argued that he knew there was a human being in the bathroom and his intention was to kill that human being and they were like look if oscar had shot into a cubicle knowing that there was like a human in this cubicle then he would be found guilty of murder right you can't just like shoot and be reckless about it

Starting point is 00:26:06 and because oscar had said that he wanted to shoot the intruder and not his girlfriend does not change the fact that it was murder he should be punished for murder that's what they're getting at his plan was to kill who was ever in the room the media uh the public everyone was very torn very torn and then sentencing or the verdict and all that jazz happened on september 11th 2014 judge tuko zile masipa did i do that okay anyways but this, she delivered her verdict. Now, very controversial. She acquitted Oscar of murder, citing that he did not foresee the possibility of someone dying as a result of his actions. You know, many disagree with that because if you have

Starting point is 00:27:01 a gun and you're shooting towards someone or at someone you think the result might be dying but whatever instead she found him guilty of quote culpable homicide and quote or negligent killing the judge ruled that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he had intended to kill rva or anyone else. Now this distinction was crucial in determining his sentencing. On October 21st, Oscar was sentenced to five years for negligent homicide and an additional three years for I guess an unrelated gun charge. His team was trying to get the judge to give him like a house arrest, but the judge ruled that he should serve time behind bars to send a message to society. Do you think he was doing steroids and that's why he had such a crazy reaction. Sorry, I just now thought about it. Because usually, you know, sometimes steroids are involved and when steroids are involved, they

Starting point is 00:28:13 get crazy, which would make sense why he was, was like, would be shooting. I don't know, I'm just trying to think. Again, uh, the public opinion or their reaction to all this was very mixed some felt that like justice had been served and then others believed that the sentence was like it was it was too kind the debate over whether oscar was a murderer or like a man who just made like a tragic mistake really just continued to rage. So the prosecution they were not satisfied with the sentence. They were like hey this is way too light and completely inappropriate for the circumstances. So then in December 2015 the Supreme Court ended up overturning the conviction and found Oscar guilty of murder.

Starting point is 00:29:11 God, I wonder if he was doing steroids. Not that it excuses his behavior, right? It would make a lot of sense. Would it? I don't know. Maybe. Anyhow, he's overturned guilty. The court ruled that Oscar should have like foreseen that firing four shots into a small enclosed space like a bathroom would have lethal consequences regardless of who was behind the door. Snaps. That makes sense, right?

Starting point is 00:29:39 The appeals court handed the case back to the trial court for resentencing. So in July of 2016, that same judge, Judge Masipa, sentenced Oscar to six years in prison for murder. Just six years. Just a little sprinkle. I think this judge like had a crush on him or something. Because technically this sentence sentence the six years it was like way below the prescribed

Starting point is 00:30:07 minimum of 15 years for murder in South Africa so again led to some controversy people are like what the fuck is going on right now now the judge said because of Oscar's disability and his apparent remorse. This was the reason for the lighter sentence. Judge, I have a question. Statement maybe. Because like the whole time Oscar like didn't want to be treated like a man who had a disability. He wanted to be treated like normal. Now's your chance. Treat him like normal. Well, it sounds like it's over, but it's not, because the state wasn't done yet. Prosecutors appealed once more, arguing that the six-year sentence was shockingly lenient. I mean, it was. In November of 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal agreed, and they increased Oscar's sentence to 13 years and five months. So then fast forward to November of 2023,

Starting point is 00:31:08 six years after the Supreme Court of Appeal had handed down its final sentence, it was announced that Oscar Pistorius would be released on parole. Now, the parole board set his release for January 5th, 2024. Now, it said that his parole conditions are strict. He moved in with his uncle in the Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof. There's like a random K in this word. Waterkloof? Waterkloof. Anyways, he moved there. And this, I guess, is like the same place that he was staying during his trial. His parole conditions include attending therapy sessions, anger management programs, and programs on violence against women. He's also required to complete community service hours, meet regularly with parole officers, and be subjected to unannounced visits until the end of his sentence in 2029. Now Reva Steenkamp's

Starting point is 00:32:10 mother her name is June she didn't oppose Oscar's release but expressed concerns about his huge anger issues is what she said which she felt hadn't been addressed in prison. I guess she had opted to not attend the parole hearing saying that she couldn't face him again at this stage. Now Reva's father, his name was Barry, he had passed away like earlier that year but before his death, he actually met with Oscar as a part of like the rehabilitation process. We can only imagine what was said.

Starting point is 00:32:46 We don't, we don't know, you know, but Oscar Pistorius was quietly released on January 5th, 2024. He is not permitted to speak to the media as per his parole conditions, but his lawyer mentioned that Oscar's parole allows him limited time each week to attend work commitments and church. He must also continue his therapy and rehabilitation efforts and just be a real good boy. It's just so different, huh? Like America versus anywhere else, really. Like they actually, he still, he murdered someone. Look, real talk. But like at least they're like they put you in a bunch of programs and like trying I don't know try and help some kind of way they do kinda in America but like not really not really maybe it's better there I don't know I don't think it's better there but

Starting point is 00:33:37 I don't know what am I getting at I don't fucking know what am i even getting at no i don't know so here we are uh oscar pastoreus is on parole his career is in ruins and his life is forever marked by the events of february 14 2013 are we supposed to feel bad he's the one that picked up the gun he's the one that shot at the bathroom door he's the one that got up he's him him him him him him you gotta take some responsibility for yourself there bud okay you murdered someone and who like really knows if it was on purpose or not i think it i think i think i think it i think it was i I don't know. I mean, it's really unlikely we will ever know like whether Oscar truly intended to kill Reva.

Starting point is 00:34:33 He continues to maintain that it was a tragic accident saying quote, I did take Reva's life and I have to live with it. But regardless of like whether it was a heat of the moment argument, a premeditated act, or like an attempt to protect horribly gone wrong, the reality remains that involved, but on everyone who like followed the case, who saw the rise of this amazing guy, right? And then the fall of this global icon. Well, friends, thanks for hanging out with me today. Purpose, not purpose, huh?

Starting point is 00:35:24 Doesn't matter. He's out now, you know? At least he still gets to live. Reva does not. She had so much going for her too. It's such a shame. Fuck. Well, guys, I hope you have a good rest of your day.

Starting point is 00:35:39 You make good choices. You be safe out there. And I'll be seeing you guys really soon goodbye

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Murder, Mystery & Makeup - World Famous Olympian turned murderer?? Did He Do it or Honest Mistake?

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