RedHanded - FROM THE VAULT - Episode 33 - Oscar Pistorius & Reeva Steenkamp: The Valentine's Day Murder

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

In the early hours of Valentine's Day 2014, 29 year old model Reeva Steenkamp was shot to death by her partner: South African Olympic sprint runner and double amputee, Oscar Pistorius. He still claims that it was a tragic case of mistaken identity, but the forensics and the messages Reeva left before her death tell a very different story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Happy Olympics, everybody! To get in the spirit,

we've taken a perfectly synchronised 10-metre dive into our archive and come back up for air with some shocking Olympic-related stories. First off is the Blade Runner himself, of course, Mr. Oscar Pistorius. Now, this episode that you're about to hear

from the deepest, darkest corners of the Red-Handed Vault was first released back in 2018. Pre-COVA. I cannot believe how long ago it was. So, yeah, we're bringing it back up to the top of your feed so that you can listen to the whole thing and then we'll be back at the end of this episode to update you on what's happened since because obviously it is a little bit out of date enjoy I'm Saruti. I'm Hannah. Welcome to Red Handed. And today we're talking about the murder of

Reva Steenkamp. So in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2014 in Pretoria, South Africa, the police were called to the luxury gated community of Silverwoods where 29-year-old model Reva Steenkamp had been shot to death. Was it premeditated murder or just a tragic case of mistaken identity? Whatever had happened, despite the fact that this story made headlines all over the world, it wasn't Reva's name that most people remember, but the name of the man who killed her, Oscar Pistorius. But there was so much more to Reva, and I've been thinking about this quite a lot actually, because when it's such a famous case, and when you think about it, you think of her being pretty, you don't think of

anything else to do with her. It's such a two dimensional projection of her, I think, in most things you find on this. But there really was so much more to her. Like, yes, she was beautiful and a model, but she was super smart and really driven. She'd been pursuing a career in modelling and TV, but she was also a law graduate who had finished in the top 10 of her class at law school. Reva was also really passionate about empowering women and used her newfound fame to speak out against rape and violence against women.

And in fact, the day after she was killed, she was meant to go to a school to speak to the children about abuse against women and girls and in south africa there are some like really really shocking statistics that show that one in every four women is physically abused by her partner and every six hours a woman is killed by her current or former partner that is astonishing it really is the worst thing about it is this tragic irony of a woman who intended to make her life's work in a country where domestic abuse and murder is

endemic being murdered by South Africa's national hero. This is what makes it such a compelling and infuriatingly sad story. Before we get into the case I think it's really important to understand just who Oscar Pistorius was and the nature of his relationship with Riva Steenkamp. Now, Oscar Pistorius was born on the 22nd of November 1986 with fibula hemolyla in both his legs. It's basically a congenital absence of the fibula. When he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and his ankles. But Oscar never let this disability stop him. And despite what he would go on to do,

throughout his life he was incredibly driven. He went on to become an Olympian sprint runner, nicknamed the Blade Runner because of the prosthetics he wore. He was a figure of inspiration all over the world and after becoming a four-time Paralympic champion, at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Pistorius became the first amputee to win a I mean, those are, they are incredible achievements. That's incredible. It's incredible. Imagine, like, having both your legs below the knee amputated when you were 11 months old. I'm sure he spent his entire start of his life being told he couldn't do things, but he went on to participate,

not just in the Paralympics, but in the Olympics against, you know, fully able other athletes. And he still, he still prevailed. We'll talk about this, but it goes on to show what kind of a person he was, because he certainly wasn't taking no for an answer. And so here you have this charismatic and he was good looking hero. Of course he was revered. I'm sure he still is good looking, he's not dead. After London 2012, the rest of his life was set.

He was an A-list celebrity with famous friends, he had endorsements from the hottest brands like Nike and more money than he could have ever imagined. And this is when he met Reva Steenkamp. And as you can imagine, the media just went mad for them. They were a super hot couple. I would liken this to like Posh and Becks, like the obsession with them as like a power couple. Do you really think it was that that much of a... This is where it was heading. This is where

I think it would have headed had this not happened. But Pistorius was a very different man in public to who he was in private. And the truth about the couple's relationship was troubling to say the least. Because theirs was a short but very intense relationship. Absolutely classic in cases of domestic violence murders is the whirlwind romance. And Pistorius was very controlling. He was an aggressive narcissist who made everything about him. And in just the four months the two had been together, I always forget it was such a short relationship. In my head, I always think that they've been together for years. And it's not. It's four months. And he

had imposed a seemingly never-ending list of rules upon Reva. And the text between the two of them that were examined in court revealed a man obsessed with control. And there are just so many text exchanges that we could go into where he accuses her of being promiscuous and sleeping around, of doing drugs. He says, you know,

you were sleeping around before we were together and he starts to question if she'd really changed now that they were a couple. And in her replies, it's so telling. She constantly has to defend her character. She replies with things like, I'm not a liar. I'm not a stripper. I'm not a hoe.

And what's really interesting is that the words that she uses in her text, she puts in quotes like bitch, chick and hoe. To me, that really indicates that it's clearly the language that he's using when he talks about her and he talks about women. It's not words that she wants to use. And I think it's really clear that Pistorius has a real, like, Madonna-whore complex towards women. The entitlement to question her. And again, as you said, don't forget by the time he's accusing her, they'd only been together for a couple of months because a murder happened when they were together for four months. The double standards is completely infuriating because by all accounts he was

certainly busy using his fame to put it all around town it's astonishing isn't it to be like oh well before we were together you were this type of person but it was only it was like a few weeks ago you can't expect an enormous change in a person when you've only been together no but what he's saying because she replies when he says that with i was never a prude but i wasn't a stripper or a hoe quote quote she's not saying yes i was really sleeping around with everybody she was just like i had fun i did what i wanted i'm a young woman he's saying i can't be with you i'm struggling to be with you because i can't stop having thoughts that you're sleeping around that you were really slaggish before it's not even the issue that she needed to have changed he's just insanely obsessed with the fact this madonna hall complex are you pure and virginal

and worthy of being with me even though i definitely sleep around or are you quote unquote this slag like i think that's the problem best example of Pistorius' control is from this incident that took place shortly before Reba's murder when she texts him saying today was one of my best friend's engagements I was enjoying myself and wanted to stay longer but that's over now

you've picked on me incessantly since you got back from Cape Town and I understand you're sick but it's nasty and what you're doing to me is nasty I was not flirting with anybody today's nasty and what you're doing to me is nasty I was not flirting with anybody today I feel sick that you suggested that and you made a scene at the table and made us leave early terribly disappointed with the day and the way you left me this I think shows

she is trying to reason with him like that comes across to me being like your behavior has upset me this is why I am upset this is what i need you to change but postorius is just not gonna respond to that because i think i think it probably is fair to say that he definitely has psychopathic tendencies here i think we do see that throughout the case and i don't think that reva realized that he didn't really see her as a person he saw her as a thing that he possessed and when she stepped out of his box for her in any way that was completely unacceptable and like for example there are just so many many examples of when he puts these rules upon her and tries to control her and for example there's one

time that they talk about where they were in a friend's car and reva innocently said to change the music because it was a shit song and when they got home Oscar totally fucking lost it with her. He freaked out screaming at her, how dare you, I'm the one that asked him to put that song on. She had humiliated him and he couldn't have that and he couldn't stand it. It's really really just classic classic control. More texts from Reva give us insight into how their relationship really operated she messaged him saying I do everything to make you happy and to not rock the boat you make me happy 90% of the time we are amazing together but I am not some other quote bitch

you may know trying to kill your vibe again bitches in quotations it's a word I can just hear him saying oh you're just another one of these bitches trying to kill my vibe. Why won't you just fall in line? And the idea that she is texting him within a few months of this relationship saying, I do everything to make you happy and not rock the boat. That isn't the sign of a healthy relationship. No. Walking around on eggshells, worrying about what you say that might set this person off. But I really think that's what this paints a picture of. Something that people find hard to understand maybe with this case is that he never hit her. She never accuses him of hitting her but I just think he doesn't need to. In a domestic abusive relationship what the abuser wants is control and if he's already getting the control he needs by the way that he's behaving without

having to hit her he doesn't need to. Again we come back back to this Pistorius is just a man so used to getting his way he's a man that overcame huge adversity and I think he just wasn't used to taking no for an answer from anybody and I think for Reva like the relationship really was a total head fuck it is really hard to get your head around that she was smart and she knew all about domestic violence like that was what she was setting out her life's work was raising awareness about domestic violence and abusive relationships so when she finds herself in one it is really quite hard to understand why she stayed but we see this all the time recognizing that you're in an abusive relationship is quite difficult i think like your intelligence

or your knowledge of the issue can be totally eclipsed by the intensity of an abusive relationship and you know in Reva's own words she said you know 90% of the time it's great and they were infatuated with each other and you do see that and I do think that you can never as an outsider you can never really know what someone else's relationship is like because you're not there all the time like it's you know fact is like Pistorius is super manipulative and charismatic so you don't actually have to be stupid or weak to end up in an abusive relationship and not realize it like it can happen to absolutely anyone definitely and I think look at the profile of who he was he was a national hero he was incredibly athletic he'd overcome so much in his life there's no way and he was

really good looking those are things that anyone would look for in a partner they're incredibly attractive characteristics and like you said he was charismatic and manipulative and i think i think we can't undermine the spark and the chemistry that would have been there that would have gone some way to eclipsing the level of abuse maybe in Reva's mind about what was actually happening. So within four months of this relationship starting, Reva was dead. And to this day, Pistorius claims that it was a tragic accident. But whatever happened that night, there was no doubt that Pistorius had shot and killed Reva Steenkamp. So he was arrested 381 days after the murder. And on the 3rd of March 2014,

in Pretoria, the trial of Oscar Pistorius began. Now, Pistorius insisted, and his defence was built on the premise that it was a tragic accident. But while the prosecution's case was that Pistorius was guilty of murder in the first degree, so the timeline was outlined in court. On the 13th of February 2013, Reva drove to Oscar's house at Silverwoods and just before 6pm, Reva was caught on CCTV at the gates to Oscar's house chatting to the guards and 10 minutes later, Pistorius arrived in his white BMW. Now the following account is Oscar's version of events that he gave in court. By 10pm that night, Oscar said that the couple had eaten

and that they were getting ready for bed. He said that he'd taken off his prosthetics and was watching TV while Reva did some yoga. Pistorius said that it was a hot night and the air conditioning in his room was broken, so he'd opened the balcony doors in the bedroom and put two fans outside to draw the cool air in. They had then gone to bed. He said he then woke up in the early hours of February 14th because it was absolutely boiling in the room. He said as he sat up in bed, he saw that the fans were still running and the balcony door was still open and the lights were off. He said then Reva rolled over to him and asked him if he couldn't sleep. He said they kissed, but then he got out of bed and went to go get the fans from outside. Harvard is the oldest and richest

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the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today. He then turned around when he heard a noise like a window opening in the bathroom. So he grabbed his gun from his bedside table and shouted for Reva to call the police.

And he ran over to the bathroom on his stumps because he wasn't wearing his prosthetics because he was in bed. He said he was now stood outside the bathroom door and he was terrified. He thought an intruder was in the house hiding in the bathroom and that they were going to attack him. He said he stood there a while but couldn't be sure exactly how long. He then heard another noise coming from inside the bathroom and terrified that someone was coming out to attack him. Before he knew it, he had fired four shots. He said he then ran back into the bedroom to look for Reva, but she wasn't there. And unbelievably, he said that this was when it first occurred to him

that it may have been Reva in the bathroom. And on this realisation, he said he quickly put on his prosthetic legs and ran back to the toilet to kick the door down. All the while, he said he was screaming and shouting and crying for the Lord to help him, but the door wouldn't break. So he grabbed a cricket bat and smashed it in. And there was Reva, dead. He said he sat over her and cried, and that he couldn't even say for how long he was there. And all the while Pistorius gave this testimony on the stand, he sobbed and he sobbed, even stopping to retch and vomit. Before he even gave his account

of what had happened that night, he began with a direct and tearful statement apologising to Reva's family. He said, I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of. I was simply trying to protect Reva. When she went to bed that night, she felt loved. That makes me feel sick. That is so vile. Like it's some consolation prize. I know your wonderful 29-year- old daughter is dead because i shot her four times but don't worry she felt loved when she went to bed and not only that she felt loved by me but i am the one who like it's okay because she felt she felt loved by me and i'm so great like he can't even fucking help himself so yeah he says our relationship was building really strong and we were talking about the future and then he read out messages that he

had sent her telling her how beautiful she was and how happy she made him he also read out the valentine's day card reva had given him on the day that he shot her it said roses are red violets are blue i think today is a good day to tell you that i love you i think like i think with relationships in general like if there is an area of it that is problematic that area is no less problematic just because the other areas are good like that doesn't prove anything the fact that any of these problems are coming up undermines anything that was good anyway so telling me just how how he thought she was so beautiful, how he texted her that, how she'd given him this,

is irrelevant when you look at all the texts where she's like, stop trying to control me. Yeah, exactly. And he admitted that he inflicted the gunshot wounds, but was adamant that he believed that intruders had broken in and posed an imminent risk to him and Reva. I have a question. So he's concerned that someone's come in through the

bathroom window, but his balcony doors are wide open. So he's clearly not that concerned about security. I think it's hard to explain. He never actually says where he thinks they broke in from because they were asleep with the balcony doors open. Did they come in through the balcony and now they were hiding in the bathroom and then they heard him get up and they were opening the window? I don't really know. Basically his whole thing is there is someone in the bathroom that poses an immediate threat to me and to Reva. I'm gonna kill them. Like that's that's what he says his mentality was. But we will come into that and kind of can that really be reasonable and what did he really think. But before we get there what's really interesting is the prosecutor on this case Harry

Nell was not nicknamed the pit bull for no reason. From the start, he went after the defense's case and a constantly sobbing Pistorius. Nell brought in, first, Michelle Berger, a university lecturer, a neighbor who lived about 193 yards away from Pistorius's house. In court, she said, I was woken by a woman's petrified screams. Something terrible was happening in that house. You only shout like that if your life was threatened. It left me cold. And vitally, Michelle said that she heard the screaming before she heard the gunshots. This is obviously so vital because if the screams were heard before the gunshots,

it completely undermines the defense's case that Pistorius thought he had an unknown stranger in the bathroom before he fired his gun. But Barry Rue, Pistorius's defense attorney, hit back asking the witness, was it a gunshot or was it a cricket bat striking the door? She said what she heard was four gunshots. But Rue continues, was it Reva or a man screaming? You cannot be a hundred percent correct, can you? This seems like such a weird thing because like the facts of the matter are there were gunshots. Everyone knows there were gunshots. No one's disputing the fact that it was. He says that he just wants to inject doubt and he's making the claim that the screaming they heard was not linked to the gunshots and were not Reva at all.

Like it was a totally separate thing. They were in fact the screams of Oscar once he realised he had shot Reva and when he was smashing the door down with the cricket bat. I mean, unlikely. Because it's all to do with the witnesses and the time the shots and the screams were heard. The defence even brought in a ballistics expert who testified that, quote, there is no way it is conceivable this was anything other than a deliberate shooting. You have to pull the trigger four times, it wouldn't go off accidentally. Pistorius used a Taurus PT917 9mm pistol loaded with fucking hollow point bullets. If you don't know what hollow point bullets are, these bullets are expanding bullets. They have a

pit or hollowed out shape in the tip that cause the bullet to expand when they enter a target. So this basically decreases the level of penetration and essentially they shatter inside and tear the victim up. So this type of bullet is made to cause maximum damage. It basically releases like shrapnel inside your body. So even if you were able to get help, it would have torn you up inside. It wouldn't just be one bullet that a doctor would be able to remove and sew you up. Oh, he's so disgusting. Why the fuck, even if you thought it was an intruder, would you fire into a confined space where you can't see the target with ammunition that with just one shot would likely lead to a fatal outcome? He fired four times. This wasn't shoot to scare, this was shoot to kill.

As I understand it, having a gun in your house is much more normal in South Africa than it is in the UK. But I think, I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but having a gun not only in your house, but having one with exploding bullets seems a lot to me. And the way these shots hit Reva also make up a crucial part of the case. The first shot hit her in her hip or like her upper thigh. The second shot hit her in her upper arm just above her elbow. And the third and fourth hit her in the right temple. The shots to her body, coupled with the alignment of the bullet holes on the door, show that after the first shot, Reva was falling when she was hit again and again. And the sequence is vital, and the delay is vital,

because after one shot in the hip, the first one, she would have cried out. And the second, third and fourth shots hit her as she was falling, so this proves a delay between the shots fired. She wasn't hit again and again in the same place in a rapid succession. She had fallen. So there was time between these shots being fired. The defence ballistics team wanted the shots in quick succession and to remove the delay because that helps their case if it's just one, two, three, four.

But the forensics don't match this. And they say that the police bungled the initial crime scene investigation and this isn't totally untrue like mistakes were made in the collection of evidence but the gunshots through the door and the injuries on riva are clear so yes the crime scene investigation in the collection of evidence was fucked but it doesn't impact the sequencing and the delay. Nell made the case that Reva and Pistorius argued. He said that she had gone into the bathroom to get away from him. And when she was shot, she was stood upright

facing the door from the inside. So she was up against the door from the inside. He said that they must have been arguing or at least talking, or maybe she was even trying to stop him from getting into the bathroom. Why else would she be standing up against the door? I think this is what was happening and then in a rage when Oster couldn't get to her, couldn't make her open the door, they were just

arguing, he goes to get his gun from the bedroom and shoots her. This to me makes the most sense because after the first shot was fired, as you said, would Reva not have responded? Well, the defence had a reason for this. They said that Reva had stayed quiet because she'd heard Pastore screaming outside about intruders. And so she had stayed quiet inside the bathroom to not give herself away. I don't understand why she was facing the door. She was facing the door because they were talking or arguing. She'd gone in there to, like, put a barrier between him and her to get away from him. And he followed her, got the gun, and he shot her through the door.

I think that's the only thing that makes any sense. So the prosecution played a video of Pistorius at a gun rage because he was, you know, a keen... What would you even say? Gun enthusiast. Gun enthusiast, yeah. So he was a keen shot. He's, you know you this isn't his first rodeo and he was he was obsessed with guns and in the lead-up to the killing he had applied for six

more gun licenses i don't feel like anybody needs six more how many has he already got and in the video you can see him he's at the gun range and he's shooting watermelons with the same type of hollow point bullets and is heard saying it's a lot softer than brain but fuck it's a great zombie stopper the thing about firing ranges like there is absolutely nothing stopping the person next to you just turning on you and shooting you like apart from social construction like there's no it there's such a weird thing to me maybe i think it's we don't really have them here. They're not a thing. I'm sure they are, but not as much. So now the prosecution attorney

plays this video in court and he asks Pistorius, you shot that watermelon and it exploded. You know that when you shot Reva the same thing happened to her head. Have a look. And he shows the picture of Reva's injuries and the picture is too much

for the courtroom. Now as Pistorius sobs Nell continued asking him how he didn't know it was Reva in the bathroom. He said you yelled at her to call the police and she was a maximum three meters away from you but she never uttered a word. That seems improbable. Now to refute the case the prosecution were building the defense called forward other neighbors. These neighbors when you hear their testimony claim that they only ever heard a man crying or screaming and they were so adamant it was a man it was almost weird because when Michelle Berger the original prosecution's witness comes forward she says she thought it was a woman and that she says that when she's questioned on it. These people come forward and they say it was a man, it was definitely a man,

I heard a man screaming and crying. It sounded almost staged or rehearsed to me. I'm not sure I would be able to tell the difference from 193 yards away. But that is the key to the defense's case, is that yes you heard screaming and shouting and crying but you cannot be sure that it was a man or a woman but these people lived a bit closer than michelle berger did and said that what they heard was definitely a man the defense also brought in a sound engineer to take the stand and he claimed that from where the prosecution's neighbors lived the ones who were saying that it was a woman that they couldn't have heard and the people saying that they heard screaming before and during the gunshots not just after that they couldn't possibly have heard the screaming or the gunshots from 193 yards away now we read you some texts between the two of them at

the start of this episode and many many more of these were read aloud in court but the dramatic finale to the prosecution's case was a text from Reva to Pistorius three weeks before her murder. We are living in a double standard relationship where you can be mad about how I deal with stuff when you are very quick to act cold. You do everything to throw tantrums in front of people. I have been upset by you for two days now. I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me and how you will react to me but barry rue the defense fought back showing affectionate texts and emails and even cctv footage of the couple in a shop kissing and he asked the court is that what an abusive relationship looks like yes that can be what

abusive relationship looks like that's such a nothing defense it is because yes it's exactly what an abusive relationship looks like the fact that she's saying it is because yes it's exactly what an abusive relationship looks like the fact that she's saying you snap at me i don't know how you're going to react to things i walk around on eggshells and you throw tantrums and the fact that any of that picture of colleen stan and her abuser yeah like arm in arm smiling with her family he kept her under the bed exactly Exactly. And almost what Barry Rue, the defence attorney, is trying to say is, we didn't keep you locked up, did he? We didn't keep you in a cage. He didn't keep you tied up to his bed or whatever. You were walking around in

shots kissing him. He was telling people how beautiful he thought you were and how much in love you were. So apparently that undermines everything that she was saying about how controlling and possessive and insane he was. It's such a nothing defense, you're completely right. But Rue went even further because, you know, he must know that just trying to undermine the domestic abuse side of things wasn't going to be enough. So Rue brought in a psychologist who claimed that Pistorius had generalized anxiety disorder, which meant that he has, according to the psychologists, a fear response that may seem unbelievable from the point of view of an able-minded person,

but not for him. They also brought in a sports physician who had worked with Pistorius for six years, who claimed that psychological stress and his disability made him feel vulnerable. So Roux now claimed that the seeming overreaction was because Pistorius had had an anxiety disorder, but also because he wasn't wearing his prosthetics, this made him

feel incredibly vulnerable. So in the usual test in law, would a reasonable person have thought this or done this? Rue made the case that Pistorius's judgment was impaired and so he couldn't possibly be held to that same level of accountability. I'm Jake Warren and in our first season of Finding, I set out on a very personal quest to find the woman who saved my mum's life. You can listen to Finding Natasha right now exclusively on Wondery Plus. In season two, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post by a person named Loti. It read in part, Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go.

A gentleman named Andy saved my life. I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance, but it instantly moved me and it's taken me to a place where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding, and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha exclusively and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. I didn't either until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits, and the unexplained have consumed my entire life.

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or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Obviously, generalized anxiety disorder, people do suffer from it, it is a big deal. I don't think generalised anxiety disorder is enough of a severe diagnosis to get away with murder. Yeah, because they're basically saying he had no idea who he was shooting at, so he's shooting at. So he's

shooting into a confined space with hollow point bullets at close range in a space where that person can't hide, where he knows one shot could be fatal. He's saying that that level of craziness, the situation that led to that happening is so unbelievable. They have to build a case to say, well, he doesn't think like an ordinary person because of this and that's why it's fine that he did that and that's why it's not murder it's it's unbelievable but it is smart defense because in law like i said normally you just have to prove that would a reasonable person have done this and if yes then it's okay. Finally, on September 12th, 2014, 193 days after the trial had begun and 574 days after Reba's murder,

it was judgment day. And in South Africa, there's no jury system. So it was down to Thokazile Masipa. Thanks for putting that in my bit. I wrote that out phonetically for you. You did well. Did you? Oh, thanks. With the assistance of two lay assessors to make the decision and unbelievably she found pastorious

on the count of murder not guilty and discharged instead pastorious was found guilty of culpable homicide so like manslaughter or negligent homicide so she ruled that the shooting was accidental and it was not pastorious's intention to kill reva but he had intended to kill someone he was firing into a bathroom door at an unknown target with a weapon with exploding bullets like it shouldn't like that is murder just because it wasn wasn't the person he alleges that he thought it was, that's still, that's not manslaughter. And she went on to say that the evidence from the prosecution was apparently just circumstantial.

And because the sound engineer had come forward and said that they couldn't possibly have heard it, apparently the witness testimony had been proved to be unreliable. She also said that the accused gave an opposing statement that could be reasonably true. Of the accused gave an opposing statement that could be reasonably true. Of course he gave an opposing statement. Could it be reasonably true? That's very questionable. I don't personally think that it could be reasonably true. But as far as she was concerned, this was all that was needed in law for an acquittal. The judge acknowledged that he had

lied and that he had no intention to shoot anyone, even though he had a loaded weapon that he shot. Like, that's so ridiculous. But it's okay because this lie doesn't mean that he was being untruthful about anything else, apparently. That is such a bizarre argument. I know. Like, I get that he's, you know, at this stage, he's a national treasure. And this case was so huge. And it was, I cannot, but that's not enough of an excuse.

I feel like it's a classic case. If he wasn't famous, and if he wasn't rich, that he would have been sent down for the rest of his life. Of course. And also just generally, we won't dig dig into this but just generally on a larger scale of the race issues in South Africa like who he was and what he gets away with like is unbelievable to me and this really was I felt like South Africa's opportunity the world's eyes were on them this was their opportunity to prove that there wasn't corruption in their justice system that they could run a fair and just trial. And they fucked it, because this is unbelievable. Because also, apparently,

this, and what I'm about to tell you, is word for word what Tokuzilo Masipa said, the judge said. His behaviour immediately after the shooting was inconsistent with the conduct of someone who had intended murder. What? I know, it gets better. He shouted for help. He called 911. He called security. He couldn't even speak because he was crying so hard. He prayed to God to save the victim's life and he was even seen trying to resuscitate her. And he pleaded with doctors to help and he was distraught. From this, it can't be said that he didn't believe he was shooting an intruder in the bathroom. That's, that's what she said during her sentencing.

So he's trying to resuscitate her even though her head has exploded. Yeah. Yeah, that'll do it. That's bollocks. That'll do it. You shoot someone with a hollow point bullet four times, and then yeah, you can try resuscitate them. Go fuck yourself. Yeah, just a bit of mouth to mouth. That'll sort that out. Exploded head. It's disgusting.

So that judge has essentially just been like, oh, you know, you're definitely not a murderer if you're a great actor. Yeah, because you screamed and you cried and you were running around and you called 911. So you couldn't possibly have done this. It just, it doesn't match up with someone who would be a murderer because then, you know, you would have, you would have skulked away into the night with your

stripy top and your swag bag. Like, what? The Hamburglar. So, but in the end, Pistorius was sentenced to just six years. However... That's disgusting. Yeah, it's fucking vile. But, this case was appealed in November 2015

and in December 2015 the supreme court of appeals overturned the culpable homicide verdict and found pistorius guilty of murder fucking good finding that pistorius was not justified in claiming that he thought his own life was in danger but unbelievably it was once again judge misipa who was to carry out the re-sentencing that should not be allowed it should not be the same judge exactly because they overruled her they overturned her verdict why is it again her that gets to do the re-sentencing and because there's no jury system like it is independently her verdict there's no other contributions to it. And on the 6th of July 2016,

she sentenced Pistorius to another six years in prison for murder. Who gets six years in prison for murder? Yeah, so he was now meant to serve 13 years in total. Even though the prosecution had called for 15 years, which is the minimum sentence in South Africa for murder, which still seems pretty light. So like, even though he's been convicted of actual murder, he's still not getting the minimum sentence for murder. So Masipa argues that because Pistorius had already served 12 months in prison for the culpable homicide conviction and was remorseful for his killing. So that's why she lets him off a bit lighter. That's absurd. It's disgusting. I don't see how any reasonable

person, if this had been a jury trial, he would have been convicted of murder in the first instance. And if the jury had been allowed to make recommendations for a sentencing, he would have received, I think, a maximum penalty. Yes completely this is unbelievable so that is the case of the killing of reva steen camp thank you for listening is such a such a difficult case i think anything where it's like domestic violence domestic abuse and also because there was so much media coverage on it and i think if you think that this was just a one-off there absolutely wasn't that there was so much more we could have included in this we just didn't have just didn't have the capacity to build everything into this episode. So what we'll do is we'll post a couple of the interviews that I actually found where it's his ex-girlfriends before Reva talking

about what their relationships were like. And needless to say, he was exactly the same with them. Moving on. Patreon. Thank you so much, guys. We are just so grateful for each and every one of you. Honestly, we, we work really hard at this and just the way you interact with us on social media it just gives us such a boost it makes us so happy so be sure to follow us at red handed the pod on twitter on instagram come chat to us because we absolutely love it please please please if you haven't done so already head over to itunes and leave us a five-star review and we'll see you next week bye so that what you just ate with your ear holes uh is where we left you in february 2018

which i just noticed we timed for a val's Day release, so great job us. But since February 2018, sorry to break it to you if you didn't already know, but Oscar Pistorius is well and truly out. On the 31st of March 2023, a parole board gathered to consider early release for this so-called model prisoner. He'd served just half of his 13-year total sentence. Obviously, Riva Steenkamp's parents were furious, saying that he was not remorseful or rehabilitated. But they were unable to appeal, since all South African criminals are eligible for parole after

half their sentence. That first time, parole was denied, but at a second hearing in November 2023, parole was granted. Oscar Pistorius was released on parole on the 5th of January this year, 2024, 11 years after Riva Steenkamp's death. He spent only eight and a half years behind bars, and now he lives at home,

most likely with his uncle, we think, just outside of Pretoria. He'll be monitored until his sentence expires but he is largely a free man junestein camp reaver's mother did not attend she said i simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage god i can't even imagine and that's the thing we talk about this on the show but maybe not enough that obviously the person who's killed their lives are gone forever but it's the family that are left behind as well who face a lifelong sentence where they have to go to these appeals these parole meetings constantly to try and keep the person that killed their loved one where they deserve to

be so june questioned whether os Oscar Pistorius' anger issues had actually been dealt with in prison and is, quote, concerned for the safety of any other woman who comes into contact with him. A fair concern. Now, as part of Oscar Pistorius' parole conditions, he's required to continue anger management counselling

and attend sessions on gender-based violence. As for who's next? As for who's next? As for what's next? Sorry, Freudian slip there. Who knows? He's still only 37! What? I thought he'd be as old as shit by now.

Me too! Oh my god. We'd be extremely surprised if he could ever compete or appear in the media again, but stranger things have happened. A few years ago, his dad suggested he had been taking an active role in the prison Christian community, so maybe he'll become some sort of pastor.

Oh, my God. It's one way to get in front of an audience. I'll give him that. Yeah. Speculation, though. We can speculate only. Part of Pistorius's parole bans ban him from speaking to the media. So when his parole expires in 2029,

which would have been his whole sentence, as we said, we can see what he has to say for himself. Can't wait. So yeah, that's it, guys. That is the full Oscar Pistorius vaulted episode catch up, as well as a brief update on what's happened since 2018. Now enjoy the Olympics and don't worry about this little fucking piece of shit again. But do not under any circumstances swim in the Seine because they're not allowing it anymore.

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