Oscar Pistorius verdict: Reeva killing 'not murder' - BBC News

Nice to see all the armchair legal experts here, churning out their usual ignorant offensive shite. She applied the letter of the law in this case, as confirmed by other legal experts in South Africa; but I guess you all know better than a legal expert of many years' experience at the top of her profession. Whatever happens to Pistorius now, he already has a life sentence of nightmares ahead of him. If you ever find yourselves at the wrong end of a baying mob you will be grateful for a legal system that offers protection from people like… you.

Being south african myself, today i truly feel ashamed of our justice system. How many more oscars out there are going to be acquited.
Lets hope tomorrow justice will prevail

Oh no... Oh no. As one of the 1 in 4 women that has suffered from physical, mental and verbal abuse, this case breaks my heart. I don't doubt that oscar immediately regretted his actions. He probably truly did love this woman. Men that abuse women are not constant sadists. They have their good moments, which is how the woman grows to love them/believe they can change. This guy killed his love in a fit of rage and the courts refuse to acknowledge that their hero athlete could do such wrong. Shameful.

This judge not only did an injustice to Reeva and her family, but also sent a very dangerous message to the people of South Africa: if you have money, fame, and a good lawyer, you get away with murder. How can an intelligent person say that he could not have reasonably foreseen that he was going to kill someone after he fired four shots from a gun into a bathroom door! You do not shoot four times to injure, you shoot four times to kill! What I once that was an intelligent judge who broke barriers because of her gender and race, is now nothing more than a joke.

He killed her In a rage. When you are in a rage you don't think. It wasn't premeditated murder, but it was murder. It was murder beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge got it wrong.

he get away with murder...............

Judge: "How could the accused reasonably foreseen that the shot he fired would hit the deceased?"
Um... because he aimed the gun at her and shot? Could that be why... perhaps? Absolutely ridiculous. Whole thing is a joke.

when my gf is spending the night and I hear a noise (especially coming from the bathroom), my first thought is, oh, maybe she had to go pee and not shoot willy nilly through the bathroom door. they have not convinced me that he is not guilty as charged...he had a history of being short tempered and playing with a gun in a public restaurant. his whole anxiety stress thing he pulled during the trial...well he then should have never even been allowed to have any gun around, in the first place... now, if he continues to be lucky he will get some social work hours as 'punishment'...I am speechless.

This guy's girlfriend cheats on him on valentine's day she hides in the bathroom from him and he shoots her dead in a fit of rage. Any normal human being would first call out and ask who is behind the door before shooting. He shared a room with the girl so how can he not assume it was her behind the door. He was faking being religious and using crocodile tears through out the court proceedings. Anyone could see he was being manipulative. He has no remorse or empathy. How can they let this guy off!!!!!

So according to this so call judge when you shoot a gun you can't perceive that you will kill someone... OMG.

The entire court case is on youtube, everything said in his case is on youtube thus ALL THE INFORMATION. Watch it all and look at the way he answers and what he answers with the cross-examination of the 8th - 12th April, as he answers every question through a argument and when important relevant details are needed from him, witch if you are innocent are easy to answer, he states he forgot and when Nell askes him for his opinion he can't even give his opinion without incriminating himself? A person that gives these kind of responses is guilty as hell, for example the road attack he talks about: he was driving and a car shot at him- a traumatic event - he can remember every and I mean every turn he had to make to get away from the car , stopped at a public place witch he gives a name R.. something and phones someone to fetch him. when Nell askes him to tell him who picked him up so that Nell can verify his story , after all the precise details oscar gave, Oscar tells the court he can't remember who picked him up or who dropped him off the next morning. My question, if you are in trouble and you can remember all the details of it, but you phone someone to help you can you expect me to believe that after all the detail, that you would forget who helped you a person you know and trust ?
another example in the cross-examination: he states he screamed while he was in the bathroom at the intruder (witch we now know was Reeva) 8ft behind a door, he SCREAMED at the intruder ,and I quote, "get the f . . . out of my hose " several times followed with "Reeva phone the police". Please do keep in mind she is 8ft away from him and he is screaming. He states she did not make a sound thus he could not know it was her. Does this sound normal? your boyfriend screams in the bathroom the same one you are in , but you do not make a single sound ?
this is but one of many problems with Oscar's case, now I would like to know does this sound like a story of an innocent man with all these unbelievable coincidences ? go listen at the entire cross-examination and then you can tell me how wrong I am

The judge makes no sense whatever when she states" He could not know that firing four shots through the toilet door would kill someone." Say what? One shot maybe, but four? And with hollow point bullets specifically manufactured to kill? Prosecution should appeal on the foolishness of this ruling. Plus the accused clearly is lying on the witness stand, is argumentative and tailors his answers as he perceives the direction the prosecutor is taking him.

Once again it seems you're better off being Rich and Guilty rather than Poor and Innocent.

Justice has been done, thank you

The judge stated OP could not have foreseen that he would "kill" the person behind the door. This is the most important part of the verdict and the reason the charge was downgraded from murder to culpable murder. I would think that pumping 4 bullets into the door of a small space such as a toilet, there is every chance he could foresee his actions could lead to killing a person. Such a shame for RS's loved ones. Justice has not been served.

HORRIBLE, a TOTAL SHAME!! South African justice is sending a wrong message to the World labeling domestic violence as normal and the indiscriminate use of gun dispite of the killing of a human being!! Hopefully her family will appeal..

the esteemed judge discarded most of the evidence and interpreted this her way. You could tell all through the trial that she favored Pistorius, so this is no surprise. Nell should have stayed home.

Through this whole trial I never once heard anyone mention why Reeva would've taken her phone into the bathroom with her. Seems to me she would've been attempting to contact help, which is why he shot her so quickly & 4 times

So this judge believes his witnesses only.

south africa's version of o.j. simpson.

The judge made no sense really. She said there wasn't enough evidence for a murder conviction, yet admitted Pistorius was skilled with a gun, and knew what he was doing when he fired the four shots at the door. She also discounted all of the prosecution case, which is funny because, if there is no case, then there shouldn't have been a trial, unless the trial was purely on manslaughter charges. The reality is, the high profile nature of this case, got to the judge, and if Pistorius was a nobody, she would have found him guilty of murder.

Two things I simply cannot understand. Firstly, when he got up to bring the fan in from the balcony, which was closer to Reeva's side of the bed, he would have had full view of the bed while he was crossing her side to get to the window. Plus there would have been moonlight as he woke up to close the balcony door! Then when he hears the sound, he goes back to his side of the bed to get the gun. So twice he would have seen the bed clearly empty. How could he not know it was Reeva.
Secondly, when you see the picture of the room she was shot in it's TINY. It's literally a toilet and a sink, There is no room to move anywhere. If you shot one bullet you'd be almost certain to somebody, It's no coincidence 3 of the 4 bullets hit. So when the judge says there's no way he could have known he'd have killed someone, especially Reeva, is just false. If he gets away free it will be a travesty and my sympathies are with her family.

Fire the judge. That's not making sense. The first gun fire and the victim get killed could have for sure screamed. There is no way he cannot recognize her voice. This man is evil. God will judge him.

This is ridiculous. So he could NOT have foreseen that firing 4 shots from a gun at someone could have lead to a death. I thought that was what guns were for, they are made for killing people! Sure, you can try to injure someone instead of killing them, but if that was his intention he wouldn't have fired 4 times. Also, any sane person would first check that his girlfriend is in a safe place and then call out to the person behind the door before even considering using the gun. I mean just imagine that you are laying in bed at night with your girlfriend/wife next to you. Suddenly, you hear a noise in the bathroom. Now what do you do? Do you grab your gun and blast 4 shots into the bathroom door? HELL NO. You first look next to you to see if your wife/gf is in bed next to you. If she's not there then it's obviously her in the bathroom and you go back to sleep. If she is there, you ask her if she heard the noise too and then you tell her to stay in the bedroom and call the police. Only then you proceed to get your gun and investigate the source of the noise. The scenario that he described in court is so illogical and unlikely that if it really went down like that, then he should be placed in a mental institute for life because he is insane and a danger to society.

How money and fame can buy you out of murder....

Why doesn't the judge sentence Pistorius, instead of putting it off until October?

Did you ever hear of the Oscar Pistorius drinking game?
You wait for your girlfriend to go to the bathroom and you take 4 shots.

The Judges summing made sense; it doesnt meant she doesnt think he is guilty, but where there is reasonable doubt- no witnesses nor evidence of a motive- I can see why he didnt he get pre-meditated murder. In addition to his oscar winning emoting on que, there were more holes in his account than in a sieve. Hopefully the maximum custodial sentence - including for the restaurant incident for which has been found guilty- will offer some justice to Reeva and her family. Community service would be a nonsense considering also his celebrity? status, a fine too considering he is apparently now broke, and house arrest in his millionaire uncles mansion is an unbearable thought. If, unbelievably, he is allowed to luxuriate his sentence in his uncles mansion, the judge should specify that the profits from any book, film deals, and the inevitable Oprah Special should go to Reevas family during and after he has served his sentence.

This is why gun should be controlled...

i watched a lot of the trial & read about this case. if i were on a jury for this guy, i would have voted guilty of 1st degree murder with no question. his story made no sense. what was this judge thinking?!

Only 5 years? Ridiculous. He should be in jail for longer.

Where is justice?

The judge says all the witness who heard something that night were unreliable, except the one who didn't hear anything at 2am, the night watchman. Yet she says the poorest of all the witnesses was the accuser, but his testimony she believed. GO FIGURE!
Furthermore, she refused to address the reasons behind OP's numerous inconsistencies, contradictions, evasiveness in his answers, which would lead any reasonable person to doubt his version. GO FIGURE!
An appeal will be forthcoming for sure

This judge cannot be serious. The evidence against Oscar is compelling. Sad day for the victim's parents, family, friends, South African justice system and all women who have ever been the victim of domestic violence. Reeva Steenkamp deserved justice.

In South Africa you can get away with anything as long as you are Rich and Famous.... pathetic..... and they member of BRICS? Kick them off!!!

He most likely did it in a moment of madness and then regretted it immediately. I can almost guarantee he didn't want to kill her. I personally prefer to punch a door when I'm mad but when a gun is readily available, I suppose shooting one works all the same....

Apparently pistorius can either do 15 years in prison or he can pay a big fine, but it will cost him a arm and a leg...

She was leaving him, and he was'nt having it. Case closed.

what is ridiculous about OP's version of events is that he didn't want to check on Reeva before he desided to act. And he did it in the dark. Who, if they are afraid, acts in the dark? You would hear a noise, grab a gun, start shooting then see what is going on. What kind of person does that - a maniac?? What kind of person shoots his girlfriend in anger - a maniac??!! Either way, we have a measure of the man. Fact is, he lied his way out as the courts could prove guilt definitively - sadly which says something about domestic violence! His arrogance and selfishness and distain for the family and any sense of honor prevented him from telling the truth and I expect he spent the case mourning the loss of his career rather than his girlfriend. What a horrible, horrible little man.

After condemning the credibility of the accused she let him off..... Simply Amazing. This shows low standard of credibility in judiciary in SA

@ that's wrong,there are witnesses! neighbours heard a woman screaming (Pistorius denied that she was screaming or speaking with him). another neighbour said that there was a noisy dispute in Pistorius house at ca. 2:00 a.m. but Pistorius said they were both sleeping at that time. so Pistorius is lying. All other evidence also show that he killed her with intention.

This whole farce reminds me of the O. J. Simpson trial! I do find it both quite shocking and offending for 'a judge' to impose upon society what several witnesses, independently from each other, did hear at the very moment the crime took place: "No, the witnesses did not hear Reeva crying out for help, but rather just made it all up, or have been influenced by others to say so!" -- This is plain sickening stuff!

Pistorius is a murderer.

I wonder if his celebrity had something to do with his verdict. According to what I've read, Pistorius went into two public places where other people could have been harmed and shot a firearm. Then he gets into an argument with his girlfriend and starts shooting a gun saying that he thought she was an intruder. He obviously doesn't have respect for human life. If he walks and isn't incarcerated, no justice has been served. He'll be right out there playing cowboy again and laughing about it.

the judge found him now guilty of "culpable homicide" (which may be the equivalent to unintentional manslaughter in South Africa, I guess). Still she let him free by extending his bail until she will sentence him in October. IMO at least this was a "killing with intention" but the judge denied exactly that based on weird arguments. anyway he should get several years in jail because he killed an innocent person with a gun (which are the facts). IN THEORY it is still possible that he must go to jail but with THAT weird judge he will probably not get 1 year in jail.

She is just consolidating his lies into a neat package for him. Don't they have juries in South Africa, or is it only judges?

This is very wrong. He probably killed other girls. This is why I don't have boyfriends

If you think an Intruder is in your home... The first thing you would do is get your gun & make sure everyone in the home is safe. He knew what he was doing & he's lying. He acted like a little boy talking to his Mummy with the Judge. "No MyLady, I did not do it, that is not true MyLady." His lawyers had to have bribed the Judge & she took the money. To confirm my thoughts... she gave him months with the psyche exam to filter his assets. Now, The Steenkamps won't get much in a wrongful death lawsuit. The Judge victimized The Steenkamps again. SHAME ON MY LADY - SHE HELPED OSCAR.

He got away with murder. Shameful.
How comes Reeva did not respond to his shouts through the bathroom door?
And then the judge even takes his post-killing behaviour into account to infer his mindset at the time of killing. Shocking!
The only person he was worried about after the murder was himself, himself and again himself.
What a pathetic, self-pitying, shifty little wimp he is.

So it all boils down to "it was an accident"?
Still sounds like he's going to get punished for what he did, but not as harshly as someone who had intentions of killing a specific person.
Had it been an intruder, no one would have gave him a second glance.

Let's face it, this 'man' murdered a human being, and you simply can't walk away with:"Damn! I have a burglar in my bathroom!" Next time you want to get rid of someone just play this man's trick, and you have made it! Why should your luck be that different from his?

Can't be bothered to watch fully. What time is the key bit? The not guilty verdict

No way when u believe there is movement in your house your natural reaction is to make sure first it is not your girlfriend existing nxt to her making sure she is safe and that it is not her making the noise. which he knew it could be a fuckin possability that maybe she just went to the fuckin toilet!!!!!!!!!

well O J Simpson the blackman was found innocent in america and all the africans cheered, this is a role reversal, black people in africa should now do the same for the white man, so we can all cheer too..

Shows how incompetent black judges a bribe can do anything in this country

Gorillafrau hat sich nicht getraut den Sprungfedermann wegen Mordes zu verurteilen.

Is he going yo walk like O.J. Simpson or will have some punishment? I never believed in his version of the facts. For me, he is as guilty as sin.

It's a very odd story which unfortunately we will never know the complete truth. In a small property like that he must have know that if his girlfriend was not next to him in bed & that there would be a high probability that the noise coming from the toilet was her & not an intruder.
And why would someone break into a property & then go into the toilet anyway. Did he think he had bog roll thieves.
A normal person would have shouted out to find out who was in the bathroom before shooting. And why was his gun loaded with Dum Dums? He didn't just want to kill he wanted to cause the maximum damage possible. To me he sounds like a gun nut with a bad temper.

When a 9mm pistol is fired at the first attempt, the sound would it cause Ms Steenkamp to scream either in her bedroom or in the bathroom before Mr Oscar Pistorious could fired the second, third and fourth time to realize it was Ms Steenkamp (no matter how fast of a shooter he was) . Neighbours heard Ms Steenkamp screaming. I thing he could have identified the sound of the scream coming either way and stop firing knowing that her girl friend was being the victim. Even so, I don’t see any consistency between the fired gun, and her skull crushed. I believe the killing was intentional - a homicide.

Y'all watch Edward Norton's inimitable performance in Primal Fear and you know what role Pistorius played in his performance... It's not difficult at all.

"Let he who is without shins cast the first stone."

Just a thought. What if Oscar proposed as it was valentines day and was turned down.Given his god complex would this have sent him into a rage.

Mattilevi, i agree with your comment. Whatever said or do to him, he went in a rage and before he know it reeva was dead. That make him a murderer. He killed her in cold blood. Would he have done that if other people was in the house? how did he know where the burglar was position in the toilet? He should be retried.

final comment: this verdict and extending his bail has made a sham of this trial, Masipa reduced the law to its lowest common denominator, enough said.

I feel most for Reeva's family, there was just not enough evidence at the end of the day...

The other video said "comments are disabled" lol

This is going to make me unpopular. I thought the trial and its verdict were odd to British eyes (no jury for a start) but it was scrupulously fair in its own framework.
And the verdict was just about right. I agree, he PROBABLY murdered Reeva BUT the prosecution FAILED to prove that beyond reasonable doubt. As the judge herself said, some of the witness testimony was inconsistent at best and while some of that could have been down to simple confusion you cannot convict someone of murder without rock solid proof. Culpable homicide was about the most she could find him guilty of.
As to four shots being fired, this made his story of a panic reaction MORE likely to be true not less. He picked up the gun, pulled the trigger and kept it down till the gun was empty in terror. Personally I don't THINK that's what happened BUT the prosecution needed to prove two things.
One, he KNEW Reeva was behind that door. Two, he INTENDED to KILL her.
Having watched the trial pretty closely I have to be honest and say they accomplished neither beyond a reasonable doubt and that means you CANNOT convict him of murder. 

Only he has got to live with the truth .That will haunt him for the rest of his life .If it was an accident .then hes still got to live with it .

He has to do time for the culpable homicide... Doesn't he.
This so called Judge, is suppose to sentence him for that.
The Prosecution can appeal her verdict. Then they go to a 3 Judge Panel.

She was probably going to leave him. Because of his physical condition and obsession towards her, he reacted violently. She hides in the bathroom and locks it. This enrages him further. He went and grab the gun and shoots her through the door. Realizing what he has done, he calls the police and made up a bullshit story about mistaking her for a burglar. Sounds about right?

he is a good man

Smh and all he gets is 5 years? Lol wow, I wonder what the outcome will be if he was black, opps "Life in Prison". This is pathetic. But forget about the race, he took a woman life and lied about it. He is a murderer and deserve to be treated like one instead like a Prince and glorified this shit. Smh.

The judge must of been drugged!

I always knew that bastard would walk

if i heard some noises in my bathroom, the first logic think to do is look where my girlfriend is. Thats common sense. I would find her and keep her safe from the intruder. But his excuse for shooting doesnt fit in a normal persons reaction. Even if there was an intruder, he could have stopped that without shooting. This is so sad for the Family of Reeva. Hopefully, the family of Reeva appeall at higher courts. This guy cant get away with murder. It will set a presedent in South Africa justice system. It means if i heard noises, it might be a burglar, so i shoot 4 times, and oh my!! my wife was there. Its unbelievable what this judge veredict came to.

I am going to dream Masiba and Pistorius playing a round of pool in hell but with blood all over the table and cue sticks and their white gloves turned red...

omg he got away with murder! four shots for an intruder while intruder is screaming in a girl's voice begging him to stop??Maybe a huge burly guy mimicked her voice?is that what he thought?whats going on in this world man?God pls forgive judge masiba coz she dont know what she did!

A good man? I don't think so, good man do not kill people.

Persons with disabilities like pistorius have an unstable physical health because of experienced stress of cutting legs off . They have lower level of accountability considering society must to take care of them . They are vulnerable and probably his girlfriend hurt him in quarrel . After that he fierce of and decided to punish her . That is obvious like money and bindings are over justice in Africa

I understand the legal issues but a jury would have been a little more emotionally involved and given the verdict that he deserved. I have to ask this though...why do athletes all around the world get away with it?????? murder, rape, DUI's, assaults, bullying....they all get away with it, let's not forget "famous" people too, (Bieber, for instance) Not right at all.

sick world

Whilst he might have been found guilty of manslaughter....I am afraid he will get off with a slap on the wrist. The Steencamps should take him for everything he has....perhaps he may then realise even if you are famous you are not invinsible.I hope he gets at least 5 years for this, but I have my doubts she will even do that

Al igual que en caso de O.J. Simpson quedó una vez más demostrado que la ley no es igual para todos. Quien tiene dinero y fama puede hacer lo que quiere y no le pasa nada. Mi apoyo y sentimientos de simpatía hacia la la familia de Reeva Steenkamp que murió a manos de un celópata egomano e irresponsable y que al final no fue castigado por ello!

This young man is innocent from the get go.... obviously the man is a disable, he reacts quick to defend himself.

Maybe in SA, and when you've got this judge for the trial, when you kill some one all you've got to do is look distraught and prey to God. In this way you won't be guilty of the murder? How much did OP pay her? How was this judge chosen for this trial? Observing her behavior throughout the trial, it was apparent that he is going to get away with it. Poor Nell, he worked his brain so hard. While the judge was in a fog or maybe even taking a 50% nap.

everyone loves to defend with Beyond Reasonable Doubt. tell me what reason a innocent man would have to lie in court. When a person lies in court and the judge knows he is lying about facts, does this not mean the judge must use their reasoning capabilities ? There is rarely easy cases, if all cases were easy we would not need judges with well above average reasoning capabilities? It is their jobs and this judge clearly took the easy road and did not rely on any reasoning capabilities only hard facts. the truth is that if murderers were only convicted on hard facts and no intuition of the judge half of them would be free

Just goes to show that in South Africa at least if your rich. You really as a woman don't want to piss the old man off or he will blow you away in the shitter and then walk away after a verdict driven by an even shittier Legal (Joke) System.

didnt his brother get away with killing somebody too? car/alcohol related?

i feel really sorry for the victim/family/friends...obviously oscar is not going to get fully punished for his crime. sure the story doesnt scream murder, but we all know he was shooting at his GF, not an intruder. looks like money free'd another murderer...

So the State failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was pre-meditated murder, no surprise there. As for the Murder charge, Masipa ruled that by firing through a door, he had no way of knowing that he would kill someone so therefore he is not guilty. This is a very controversial ruling, as you have to take into account whether he thought someone was behind that door, the number of shots fired, the type of ammo used, as well as the size of the room. When you take into account all these things, to say that he had no way of knowing his actions would result in the death of a person is a farce. He knew (or strongly suspected) there was someone behind that door, he knew the size of the room was no bigger than a closet, and he deliberately and intentionally shot through that door not just once, but four times with black talon ammunition; and so small was that space that 3 out of 4 shots hit her! Actually 4/4 if you count the ricochet bullet. Of coarse he shot with every intent to kill, and intent to kill is Murder! Her logic and reasoning is deeply flawed and Oscar Pistorius has gotten away with murder. And I say this with the assumption that you even believe his version, which I personally don't. This whole trial has been a farce and the ruling is a joke. I really feel sorry for Reeva's family.

Only god know what happened. He murdered someone, 30 years plus. He shot someone without warning, 15 years. He is fucked up, no matter who he is. Or, the system could break my belief in it, that is when we need to tear it down and rebuild.

well she was killed tragically now who the hell cares and why would you unless you are her mother?

What now! I feel sorry for the next woman.

Professor Plum in the Bedroom with the Revolver

Yoh..Yoh daai Nel sien hom sy gat...!!!

No way. Let me go guns a blazing after some argument with someone. He has a problem with his head too, but he'll get another girlfriend, won't effect them, well unless it happens again.

Yoda is no Jedi!

Ray Rice liked this

congratulations mr oscar pistolius

What if he was black ?