Oscar pistorious being released on parole

Aveline

SA is a scary place to live. People live in a heightened state of fear even in their own homes. Especially in their own homes. My SiL is from SA and DD was shocked when she visited at the bars on the windows and doors effectively turning their bedroom into a cell. Family and friends have told us horror stories. Sadly,criminals have little to lose and can be desperately dangerous.
However, one aspect of the Pistorious case that was never considered was his use of steroids. 'Roid rage' is well known to lead to rapid mood change and activity. Pistorious was known to be taking them. The environment he was in, his level of disability plus these nasty substances easily account for his precipitate behaviour on that awful night.
Poor boy. Let him out. His life as he knew it has gone.

Does living in S Africa absolve him from the consequences of his violent behaviour, use of steroids, leading to murder.

He's not a poor boy, it is well documented that he is a violent and abusive man who was found guilty of murder.

He should not be released. It sends out the wrong message to other violent, abusive men and makes women in such relationships more vulnerable if that is the attitude of the authorities.

I would like to think that in this country he wouldn’t have been granted parole whilst still such a potential danger.

To those so sure he’s not a threat to anyone else, unless he’s changed a whole lot he certainly may be in the future

“Oscar Pistorius fired a gun through the roof of a car in a fit of petulance after an argument with a police officer, his ex-girlfriend told a court on Friday”

“police confirmed that there had been prior calls about domestic incidents at Pistorius' house, including in 2009 when he spent a night in jail for allegedly slamming the door on a 19-year-old woman's leg during a party at his house after she refused to leave; an assault charge was eventually dropped”

“he jumped out of his car at the gateway of his Pretoria housing complex and put his gun to the window of a black BMW that appeared to have been following him”

Oscar was an adrenaline freak at a level I had never seen before. He had already suffered serious injuries when he crashed his speedboat into a pier. He had kept exotic pets, some of them dangerous. He drove us around in his high-performance sports car — not the kind you can get at a normal dealer but more like a race car — at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour.
Ummmm one angry adrenaline fuelled man let’s hope he’s had a wake up call and is free of drug while serving his time

I'm surprised too GSM. The restrictions that have been placed on him to obtain his release aren't going to protect anyone from his uncontrollable rage are they.

I’m surprised he didn’t have to undergo such a course, with satisfactory results, before he was considered for parole, given that anger was apparently at the root of the crime. I have no idea if this sort of thing works, especially with someone so arrogant as he seemed to be.

I am interested to learn that he must attend an anger management course. Do we know if these have any lasting effects? Does anyone on GN have experience of working with these ? I wonder if something as hard wired as gender based violence is possible to " unlearn". Or am I wrong to be doubtful?

Pray for OP? Are you serious?

I find it incredibly difficult to believe that he thought there was an intruder. If I was in bed with someone the first thing I would do is wake the person next to me and say I think someone is in the house. The first thing I would assume is that it might be the person who is normally lying next to me and I would check they were there if I didn’t wake them up. I believe he was ina temper and Reeva locked herself in the bathroom because she was scared.

A terrible tragedy. Pray for Reeva. Pray for OP who ruined his life in fear or anger.

I believe part of his parole conditions include attending courses on anger management and gender based violence.

I don't think he killed her deliberately but neither do I think he thought there was an intruder. I think they had an argument and he shot through the door to frighten her. I think he was quite a controlling man who might have had rages but my experiences lead me to believe he was probably capable of a more controlled anger too.
There will never be a long enough sentence for the parents and I suspect that the view that he is not a danger to wider society is probably what coloured the decision to allow him to leave prison. Maybe the experience will have shocked him into working on his anger management and controlling behaviour but I doubt it. I certainly think that any woman involved with him might be in more danger than wider society.
He seems to have quite strict rules he has to live under so I can see why he has been freed but I can see why women would see this as just another man who gets a better deal than they do.

go and live in his relative mansion boo hoo

fancythat

I have no idea if he was guilty or innocent.

People get released early for "good behaviour".

So my thought is, he is eligible.

He's not really being released in the sense that he's free!

I'm not sure it's for "good behaviour" - rather that he's fulfilled the detention period required to be considered for parole.

So, yes, it's simply that he's eligible.

I have no idea if he was guilty or innocent.

People get released early for "good behaviour".

So my thought is, he is eligible.

Germanshepherdsmum

Whoever was in the loo would have been killed or grievously wounded by the gunshots, fired intentionally, and he would have known that. He intended to kill or grievously harm whoever was in that very small space.

You are right.

OP had what was described as an "obsession" with guns. A video-clip was also shown in court - OP firing at a watermelon... "it's not as soft as brains, but it's a zombie stopper" he commented.

He could not have possibly been unaware that his heavy-calibre gun would've killed or very badly injured whoever was behind the door.

It was also said in court that neighbours heard sounds from his house that indicated a 'row' that night.

If his story is true - that he woke up, heard noises and thought there was an intruder... all feasible so far - why did he not knowing that Reeva was also in the house simply shout out "who's there?" or, "is that you, Reeva?".

I know we are supposed to accept that he believed Reeva was in bed when he fired those shots... would any sane person, however alarmed, just not make sure before shooting? He didn't need to go into the bathroom and risk being overcome by an intruder - he just needed to shout her name and ask if it was her in there.

Then - he went back to the bedroom and discovered Reeva was not there?

I know it's true that we don't know how we would react under threat. But, if he genuinely believed there was an intruder in the house - knowing that Reeva was in the house with him- would he not also just check instinctively to make sure she was OK? After all, she would also be under threat from an intruder.

I just cannot believe him. Neither does Reeva's mother. Though she has forgiven him - for the sake of her sanity.

My sympathy’s are with Reeva and her family. That beautiful young woman is dead and her family are the ones serving a life sentence.

I have no doubts he killed her in a violent uncontrollable
rage.He knew where Revva was hiding and why she was hiding.
He knew exactly what he was doing at the time.

Yes and many of those men have an 'explanation' as to what happened. Many of them are described as 'lovely family men'.

Many women are killed by partners in a rage who had no intention of ending their lives but the fact remains that they took a life and caused endless heartache for the woman's family.
This case is no different and all my sympathy goes to the poor woman who's life was cut short and her family.

I did say in my original post that pistorius being released from prison would be controversial. We are all entitled to our opinions. In my own family I am the only one who has sympathy for him. I've heard all the scenarios etc but I'm not swayed into believing it was delibarate

No sympathy. He murdered her. Her parents have a life sentence. He should too.

Accident? I think not. The gun was not fired accidentally. You cannot compare the two cases because there are significant differences - I doubt the father slept in the same bed as his daughter.

When our life is threatened our first priority would be to save ourselves and it would be a reflex action. Therefore he may not have had time to make an informed decision and think about his intentions. I doubt any of us have been in a life threatening situation like this, so we can't possibly know how we would react in that split second. Also, if we are female then we don't think like a man, we don't have missing legs and and we don't have a gun. How would we react if we were in that situation, who knows?

Oh I don’t for a minute think he intended to kill her I think they had a row she walked away from the bed and he lost it completely and couldn’t stop himself I believe he was in a major rage that someone walked away from him
I have seen that rage
I believe he knew it was her I don’t believe the intruder bit and I m sure if he was in normal mode he wouldn’t have killed her.
Yes I think they loved each other
I also think he was beside himself with remorse when he realised what he’d done he was sick in court when seeing the results of the gunshots
It’s a mess I hate guns with a passion without a gun she might have taken a pasting but would be alive

I agree with chestnut. I watched the trial through the African TV and watched both lawyers . If there was a jury there may have been a different outcome. A tragic accident. There was also a case in pretoria of a father who shot his daughter thinking exactly the same thing as pistorius..there was an intruder in the house. He was not sent to prison

Whoever was in the loo would have been killed or grievously wounded by the gunshots, fired intentionally, and he would have known that. He intended to kill or grievously harm whoever was in that very small space.