Pistorius Granted Bail

[Bouncy Castle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21548865

[The Mad Collector]

Not really surprised after the way the police botched their evidence

[Bouncy Castle]

Astonishing, wasn't it?

[Batty]

What strange timing the police have! The 'attempted murder' charge that the detective leading the enquiry has been charged with, happened in 2011.
Why suddenly decide to charge him now, rather than say. last year???

[The Mad Collector]

They did charge him in 2011 but dropped it then started it up again on 4th February, ie before the Pistorius case so the main question is why was he still working this week?

[Jan Van Quirm]

It's certainly another OJ scenario in the making that's for sure. The whole shooting at a locked interior door thing is strange whether or not he knew who was in there.

From a domestic violence PoV (and I've had 20 odd years of sitting in on that kind of sh*t in courtrooms) it's highly unusual for an aggressive partner (and yes it is usually a bloke) to actually attack their victim through a locked interior door, especially one that's generally an easy door to break down. If the 'sounds of domestic dispute' stories are true then why would he be confused about whether or not she was in bed with him - if they'd been rowing/fighting it'd be unusual for her to be in bed with him in the 1st place, or he'd damn well know if she'd locked herself in the bathroom to get away from him...

And the gun's less likely if it was an abusive relationship as well - those bar stewards like to see the other person up close and frightened out of their wits Creepy and implausible as it seems, his 'scared of an intruder' account sounds much more likely at this stage, but the police are doing some crazy shooting in the foot stunts of their own, so it's going to be a long and interesting court case when it gets there...

[Batty]

I take a different viewpoint, Jan.
Why would a burglar lock himself into a small bathroom? Is shampoo and soap really, REALLY expensive in SA?
If Pistorious wasn't wearing his legs, then how are the bullets angled downwards?
Why did he use a cricket bat to break down the door (which would have taken 2 hands), and then use a gun once inside?
If Reeva was screaming, then he would have known it was her inside the bathroom, so why continue shooting?
Why did he phone his father and his friend before the emergency services?

There are far too many questions, and so far, no plausible answers.

[Jan Van Quirm]

The whole thing is weird - I'm assuming the door was locked, but it may not have been. I think his defence were saying he thought the bathroom window had been left open and he thought someone had got in the bathroom from outside that way? Shooting through a closed door is more plausible if you're panicing that there's someone unknown to you in there that's all really - and whether or not you've got your legs on wouldn't you be pointing your gun up (legs off) or waist level (legs on), not down if you're shooting to wound/kill?

Also aiming the gun downwards seems more likely if you're shooting the lock out I'd have thought - but of course in a confined space there'd be the ricochet effect anyway I suppose?

[Batty]

Shooting through a closed door is more plausible if you're panicing that there's someone unknown to you in there that's all really - and whether or not you've got your legs on wouldn't you be pointing your gun up (legs off) or waist level (legs on), not down if you're shooting to wound/kill?

I agree, that If his legs were off (which is what he has stated)then he would be pointing the gun upwards, so why were the bullet holes in a downward trajectory?
If his legs were on, he wouldn't necessarily be pointing at waist level. Have you seen how tall he is? He also loves weapons, so could either be pointing the gun from eye level - just like in the cop shows - or else Reeva was cowering, and he was pointing downwards.
It has been established that one of the bullets hit her in her hip, so she may not have been able to stand. Another hit her fingers as she shielded herself with her hand raised.

Also aiming the gun downwards seems more likely if you're shooting the lock out I'd have thought - but of course in a confined space there'd be the ricochet effect anyway I suppose?

If you were shooting downwards and the bullet richocheted, then it would hit the floor and bounce upwards. The shots that killed Reeva were aimed downwards.

All very dodgy. In all the days of the court hearing, with Pistorious 'crying his eyes out', his eyes never once looked pink.
The whites of his eyes were clear and bright throughout. I wish I knew his secret. Whenever I've cried, my eyes have always looked puffy and red.

[Dotsie]

But if he were aiming at the bathroom lock and the bullet went straight through the door, it would still hit her in a downwards trajectory. With his legs off, the lock would still be below him as he has below knee amputations. Was she standing or sitting?

[Jan Van Quirm]

I think it's customary for girls to sit in bathrooms...

But no - this downwards trajectory is the key really together with the bullet pattern which would determine whether the door was locked or unlocked - if there's lock damage and the number of bullet holes co-incide with the wounds (fatal or otherwise) then the ballistics report should at least confirm whether they were ricocheted and also Reeva's position when they hit (so if she was standing or cowering on a seat or on the floor (before or after she fell).

If they were all ricocheted then he may get off with manslaughter/diminished responsibility depending on the law out there - if he was aiming to maim/kill then with his height I'd have thought that he would have been aiming higher up if he was in a rage and/or panicking.

[Jan Van Quirm]

All very dodgy. In all the days of the court hearing, with Pistorious 'crying his eyes out', his eyes never once looked pink.
The whites of his eyes were clear and bright throughout. I wish I knew his secret. Whenever I've cried, my eyes have always looked puffy and red.

I once read somewhere that men produce tears differently to women as in they can't cry for too long - although it's the salt in tears that causing the pinkness. Assuming that he's not crying the whole time in court (and usually a Judge won't allow that because it interferes with how the examination is conducted, even if there's no jury, so they wait for a witness to pull themselves together before continuing) then by the time he came out to face the cameras he might have looked OK again.

[Dotsie]

I think it's a given that he's not going to be happy right now, whatever his intentions were at the time.

I remember a documentary on press conferences where the police said they often use them to confirm their suspicisions about suspects in the family of the deceased. It's often the opposite to what you'd think. The couple that burned their house with their six children inside put on a good show for the cameras, but in another case a man who had nothing to do with his sister's death smirked all the way through. So luckily, we don't condemn people on how red their eyes are.

[Dotsie]

I think it's customary for girls to sit in bathrooms...

I'd say it really depends on whether it's pre- or post-flush. It's difficult to sit down to wash your hands.

[Batty]

Her bladder was empty.
In today's paper it has been reported that Reeva's skull was crushed. Possibly by the cricket bat??