It was Valentine’s Day in South Africa in 2013 when the silence of the night was broken by sounds that would change one life forever, and end one life completely. Three gunshots were among those sounds. There were also blood curdling screams described by eyewitness testimony on the stand as “the most helpless screaming I have ever heard in my life” according to The Telegraph. There was a bloody and disorganized crime scene that did not match the killer’s inconsistencies and lies. The truth, was very hard to come by. Because of those inconsistencies and lies, the killer, Paralympic medalist Oscar Pistorius, almost got off. But he was unsuccessful. That killer is now facing 10 years in a South African prison for murder. His victim, the beloved model Reeva Steenkamp has long been considered her murder and act of domestic violence by her family, friends, and many in the court of public opinion watching her murder trial. The Associated Press reported April 22 that a new book has come to light that provides a forensic explanation to bolster the claims of domestic violence at the hands of Oscar Pistorius.
Not many people supporting the Reeva Steenkamp family are surprised. The Pistorius family of course has referred to these domestic violence claims and this new report, as absurd. They have to say something, and that is the most common response by abusers and domestic violence assailants everywhere.
But the people that love Reeva, and the people that have watched the high profile Oscar Pistorius trial play out over the years, are nodding their head. This new book provides a forensic explanation that suddenly makes a lot of details in the inconsistent crime scene make sense. The new book also describes that the killer’s victim, Reeva Steenkamp, suffered last moments that were described as “absolute hell.”
The Pistorius family calls this absurd. But when a woman is screaming “the most helpless screaming” anyone has heard in their life, it is not inconceivable to believe that her last moments were “absolute hell.” This new book puts a lot of puzzle pieces together on what may have really happened the night that Reeva Steenkamp was murdered.
There have always been inconsistencies in the crime scene that were difficult to explain, or outright lied away by Oscar Pistorius. There was a pair of crumpled jeans on the floor, that the prosecutor claimed were there because Reeva was trying to run away from Oscar. There was blood evidence in some cases, and lack of blood evidence in others, that just didn’t make sense.
There was a very weak excuse, substantiated by nothing, that the killer shot through the bathroom door one night because he thought his home was being burglarized. His girlfriend Reeva was not in his bed where she was supposed to be. But, he claims he still thought that anyway.
South African investigators Calvin and Thomas Mollett have been examining the forensics of the crime scene, along with never before seen CCTV images of the victim for over a year according to MSN News April 22. They have turned their forensic analysis into a book that says the last moments of Reeva’s life were absolute hell. It’s not difficult to believe.
It is the first time we are hearing that a “violent struggle” occurred between Reeva and Oscar just moments before she died on Valentine’s Day. One claim these investigators have is that Oscar dressed his girlfriend after he shot her. Oscar did not reveal this in testimony.
The inconsistency here is that the clothes she was wearing by the time the police got there, did not contain evidence to match her fatal gunshots. CCTV images show Reeva Steenkamp arriving to the Pistorius home earlier that evening wearing a black vest, that was reportedly very long, past the hip. She was found dead in the same vest by police, but these new investigators are saying that she could not have been killed in that vest.
These are the allegations made in a new book by these investigators titled “Oscar vs. The Truth.” The investigators allege that is a mismatch between the gunshot wounds Reeva Steenkamp sustained, and the vest that she was found in by South African Police. Author and investigator Thomas Mollet says,
“Reeva could not have been wearing the black vest she was wearing when Oscar brought her downstairs from the bathroom after the shooting. It can only have been put on afterwards. We can’t say when or why he decided to put it on her, we can only say it was certainly not worn at the time she died.
There is absolutely no sign of any hole in the vest resulting from the bullet wound to her hip – and the vest is a long one. There is no sign of the bullet that struck her chest. And there is very little blood on the vest and it would have been really soaked with blood if she’d been wearing it at the time of the shooting.”
The investigators also have an explanation for the infamous bloody cricket bat. MSN News reports they allege the handle on the bat had been stretched and torn, and that this suggests a struggle. The investigators theory on this is that Oscar tried to block Reeva from walking away, by “yanking off her jeans, tugging off her vest” and causing injuries to her chest in the process.
Their theory then stipulates that Reeva then ran to the bathroom, nude from the waist up, and took a pair of Oscar’s shorts with her. Thomas Mollet says,
“If you look at the scene, the chaos, the evidence in totality, the damage to the doors, and the unaccounted for injuries on Reeva’s body and link all that to what the neighbours heard, then you can only conclude that the last minutes of her life were absolute hell.”
Another strange inconsistency that was uncovered by these investigators is the lack of blood at the crime scene. Although the crime scene is gruesome, the investigators say, with a fatal wound to the chest there should have been more blood. Their explanation for that lies in a bundle of black bags that was seen in a photograph next to Reeva’s body.
They believe the bags were used to apply pressure to Reeva’s wounds. They also find that this is an “illogical” tool to use to absorb blood as plastic bags would not be absorbent. All of their revelations that have just come to light in the last 24 hours are startling to say the least.
Nobody is surprised to hear that Reeva’s last moments were absolute hell. The phrase “blood curdling screams that leave you cold” as described by a neighbour during trial in the video here have substantiated that claim for a long time. Oscar Pistorius tried to say those were his screams.
That’s what abusers do. They will do anything they can to deflect the blame off of themselves, and silence the victim. But Reeva’s screams will never be silenced. Even when every other grisly detail fades to black, those screams will stand out in the dead of the night on Valentine’s Day 2013 in South Africa.
The National Post reports April 22 that the Pistorius family has come out in response to these forensic allegations to say these authors are just trying to get some fame and some money with their new book. They may well be. That is not illegal. And that doesn’t mean that the claims in “Oscar vs. The Truth” are not truth.
The fact remains, those helpless blood curdling screams that left one neighbour cold, have led to a murder conviction for Oscar Pistorius. He will be sentenced in June for murder.