Oscar Pistorius

I was hoping something like this would happen - 6 years was far too lenient. I have no sympathy for him, from his false tears in court to playing on his disability he tried everything to get away with it.

It is all so bizarre - clearly he has been found guilty of murder and should serve the appropriate sentence. But I am puzzled as to his motive - why would he kill her? Was he under the influence of drink or drugs? Did they just have a row? All so grim and that woman's poor family must be bereft.

Justice at last.

Thank goodness the judges have now given the appropriate sentence for his appalling crime.

They must be relieved that their daughter has the justice she so rightly deserved still not long enough IMO but better than 6 years.

It's still not long enough!

Luckygirl, according to her mother he was very controlling and she was thinking of splitting up with him - probably his ego couldn't deal with that.

I cannot understand how the parents could accept payments from him or why they sold rights to be photographed where they scattered her ashes .

I would think he was a man who was damaged mentally , not excusing what he did but to have gone from a man who had lost his legs to become a world athlete I question what this does to the mind , and no, I am not saying mentally ill, possibly a man who couldn't cope with losing

Apparently he has a history of violence against women/girlfriends. With people like that it takes very little to trigger real anger.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer man. I'm really glad: he repulsed me with that crying and acting.

A nicer man? Is that the right word for that saying? A better man?

I think he was/ is a very complex character probably as Anniebach says damaged , no one can imagine what a child goes through losing legs, did his parents make him a diva because of it or push him so hard to be ‘normal’ ? I think he had a sense of entitlement and a red rage temper and lived in a country where guns are used regularly He seemed to have a thing about guns and power and control
A true shame as she was a beautiful girl with her life before her and he was a very talented young man, both lives over in a moment
I don’t think he meant to kill her I think they rowed she probably threatened to leave him saught sanctuary in the toilet and he saw red grabbed his gun and shot without even thinking I never believed any of his excuses about burglars etc he knew exactly who he was after .
His sentence was too short probably still is, his family seem pretty clever at paying for favours
Put money, power and guns together and you re heading for a disaster

Bluebelle Yes entitlement is the correct word to describe this man he expected the world to fall for his crocodile tears and he has now been found out with a decent sentence although it is not long enough imo.

I never believed his story about burglars and thinking she was still in bed because surely the first thing he would have done would be to ask her if she had heard something. make sure she was somewhere safe and then investigate.

Wouldn’t make much of a defence oldwoman70 if he’d said that she’d done something that made him lose his temper, she’d fled in panic to the bathroom, he took his gun and shot her through the door when she refused to come out because he was in a red rage.

Would it?

I have wondered if it was shoot to kill or shoot to frighten

It's hard for people here to comprehend the fear of break ins in SA. I was shocked at DD and SiL having steel bars and shutters on their house and an on call security firm who shoot intruders unless they shout a password in time.
Oscar's steroid use predisposed him to reflex/instinctive response - 'Roid rage' is a well known phenomenon. It was all over in a matter of seconds. A moment of madness.
His remorse was absolutely authentic. The well respected and experienced professor of clinical psychology attested as so.
All this was glossed over at his last 2 trials. Why? Politics.
The Steenkamps money grubbing antics do their daughter no credit. She'd be ashamed of them. Poor girl. Poor Oscar. Both of their lives are over.

I see the Steenkamps as you do Jane, they took money from him whilst he was on trial, wrote a book, and were paid to have their photographs taken where they had scattered their daughters ashes , this was sick

not excusing what he did but to have gone from a man who had lost his legs to become a world athlete I question what this does to the mind
I think he was born without the fibulae in his lower legs which had to be amputated before he was one year old, so never knew what it would be like to have had legs and lost them.

Yes, I agree, it shows determination to become a world-class athlete, but other people who have lost limbs or are born without them do not necessarily vent any anger they may have on other people to the extent of being violent and murdering them.
And someone I know has lost a limb but displays no anger or resentment, on the contrary is determined and cheerful.

Agree Jane10.

He may not have known what it was like to have legs but doesn't mean he could accept being legless

Because her family behaved in a way that people don’t find ‘appropriate’ is completely irrelevant to whether his sentence should have been increased or not. As for his remorse and the testimony of a psychiatrist, that is simply not an irrefutable fact at all. And actually even if people are genuinely remorseful, that again doesn’t necessarily mean that a sentence should be lighter simply for that reason.

Fair comment, but not to the extent of taking his anger out on other people. Surely someone should have realised that he needed psychiatric help if that was the case.

I think he thought that, because he was famous and an admired athlete, that he would be dealt with leniently and get a couple of years under house arrest in his uncle's lovely home.
This sentence is entirely appropriate for the crime.

I do know about the extent of fear about murderous burglars but don’t find his defence believable. The sentence fits the crime.
I don’t feel I can criticise Reeva’s parents. They will be suffering still.