February 14, 2013

"Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend..."

"... who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs."
Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn hours in the house, in a gated community in the capital, Pretoria, police said.
ADDED: Photos of Steenkamp.

AND: Here's an article from last November quoting Pistorius's ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor:
“Oscar is certainly not what people think he is. We dated for a year and a half”....

... Taylor first said she was “prepared to reveal what (Pistorius) made me go through,” but in a lawyer’s letter late on Friday evening she withdrew everything she had said.

76 comments:

AllenS said...

I'm surprised that Oscar didn't run away.

Carol said...

PED mania - ?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

They'll need to take two different sets of mug shots.

rhhardin said...

Paralympic because he limps.

TMink said...

Famous people are famous. Not better, not more special, not more interesting, not more moral, not smarter, not more beautiful, not more anything but widely known.

To get confused about that leads to all sorts of problems.

Trey

Aridog said...

I'm amused by the prior coach's hope that it was all "just a tragic accident." Yeah, getting shot four times is frequently accidental. Everybody knows that.

MayBee said...

When the story broke here, the reporters immediately started saying it was believed he thought she was a burglar and it was a terrible accident. They went right for the cover story on his behalf.

Kevin said...

I keep thinking of the line in Storytelling, where the girl gets dumped by the guy with CP, and exclaims something along the lines of, you were supposed to be NICE, you have CP!!

LoafingOaf said...

Whether he killed her in a rage, or because he mistook her for an intruder, there's this:

"Oscar Pistorius, like many South Africans, was proud of his guns. He had a pistol and an automatic rifle openly displayed in his home, according to a British journalist who visited him. When a U.S. writer visited, he took his 9-millimetre pistol and two boxes of ammunition to a firing range for target practice. Even his official sponsor, Nike, played on the gun theme. 'I am the bullet in the chamber,' its advertising slogan said, showing the “Blade Runner” as he burst out of the starting block."

So, another gun nut whose obsession with guns led to tragic (or murderous) results.

Icepick said...

Why was there a picture of Chris Dorner in the middle of all those pictures of Steenkamp?

Icepick said...


So, another gun nut whose obsession with guns led to tragic (or murderous) results.


Yeah, just like how all the tens of millions of American gun owners are always killing people. Oh, wait....

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Reeva Steenkamp, a model...
ADDED: Photos of Steenkamp.


As the saying goes, No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her crap.

LoafingOaf said...

"Yeah, just like how all the tens of millions of American gun owners are always killing people. Oh, wait...."

Didn't say they were. I'm a gun owner myself. But this guy sounds like he was perhaps too obsessed with his guns.

fivewheels said...

People who believe that rules do not apply to them often will be found violating them. And this guy thought he was too special to let simple rules deny him what he wanted.

Icepick said...

Famous people are famous. Not better, not more special, not more interesting, not more moral, not smarter, not more beautiful, not more anything but widely known.

Gotta partially disagree. People are usually famous because they've got at least one outstanding trait. It might be that they're very athletic (famous athletes), very pretty (models, many actors and actresses, many musicians), very smart, et cetera. There's also an element of luck. Stephen Hawking wouldn't be anywhere near as famous as he is without ALS - genius forced to live the life of the mind, et cetera, makes for a great story. (I imagine he'd prefer to be less famous and more healthy.) Paris Hilton is attractive enough, I suppose, but the combination of her family name, willingness to do anything to be famous, money and so on helped make her famous.

There aren't really all that many people famous just for being famous, and most of them happen to be the children of people who are famous for other reasons.

But it certainly doesn't make them more moral or interesting (outside of the narrow scope of what made them famous) or intelligent.

Icepick said...

IiB, maybe she was sick of his shit. It doesn't matter how long his, uh, blades are, etc.

MayBee said...

At least we won't have to hear about the athlete and his concussions leading to this. That particular agenda is off the table.

Wince said...

So, today, I am asking congress to pass legislation banning... "starter pistols".

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oscar Pistorius may yet be the first double amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal and beat a murder rap.

If he does... he will have shown his mettle.

LoafingOaf said...

Interesting -- I guess the conservative media will not mention this:

"In fact, South Africa might provide some of the strongest evidence that gun control can make a difference. Tougher limits on gun ownership took effect in 2004, and since then the number of gun-related crimes has dropped by 21 per cent."

"And this decrease is not merely because of a general decline in crime in South Africa. One study of female victims, by the country’s Medical Research Council, found that gun-related deaths had dropped by nearly half from 1999 to 2009, while other causes of violent death were virtually unchanged."

chickelit said...

Does South Africa have degrees of murder? This sounds less than first.

test said...

LoafingOaf said...Interesting -- I guess the conservative media will not mention this:

It sounds like an argument for gun control in South Africa. Have you considered why similar studies here don't show the same results and what that says about you trying to use studies from elsewhere to drive American policy knowing the data you cite has no relevance whatever?

chickelit said...

LoafingOaf almost reveals...
But this guy sounds like he was perhaps too obsessed with his guns.

Why not just use the word "fetish" and self-identify with your cohorts? It would make it easier for us.

Charlotte C said...

@LoafingOaf, If the article is to be believed, Pistorius was breaking the Firearm Control Act of 2000, which stipulates that all firearms are to be secured in a wall mounted gun safe when not in use. Thus making the open display of weapons in his home illegal.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This story reminds me of Jason Williams... remember him?

An NBS basketball player who shot a limo driver to death and tried to cover it up.

LoafingOaf said...

William S. Burroughs, Kurt Cobain, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius, etc etc etc -- it's never a surprise when people who show an unhealthy obsession with guns wind up killing either themselves or someone close to them with those guns.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This sounds less than first.

Nice.

Anonymous said...

No surprise that confirmation bias turns out to be one of the innumerable things LoafingOaf doesn't know about.

Palladian said...

LoafingOaf shows an unhealthy obsession with trolling.

edutcher said...

Yet the Oaf lumps himself in with all the "nuts" owning guns he claims to deplore.

As for Oscar, hero worship of athletes went out with Joe Namath, sad to say.

MayBee said...

Why does this sound less than first? He shot his girlfriend multiple times.

jacksonjay said...

Another example of the female obsession with the "bad boy"! I am sure that Rhianna has total fixed Chris Brown!

chickelit said...

MayBee said...
Why does this sound less than first? He shot his girlfriend multiple times.

I was reacting to the accident scenario and the presumption of innocence. If the facts (and not opinion) demonstrate otherwise, he hasn't got a leg to stand on.

LoafingOaf said...

"Yet the Oaf lumps himself in with all the "nuts" owning guns he claims to deplore."

Neither I nor the administration is trying to ban guns, idiot.

Obama himself shoots skeet at Camp David, as I have since I was in junior high.

(Sorry for calling you an idiot, but that's the established way of treating people who disagree with you around this blog.)

Icepick said...

Oscar Pistorius may yet be the first double amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal and beat a murder rap.

yeah, but he's still no OJ Simpson, because he hasn't co-starred with Leslie Neilson.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

His Nike contract probably has a rider; voiding the contract in case of personal misconduct outside the track.

Charlotte C said...

Does South Africa have degrees of murder? This sounds less than first.

Chickelit, there's manslaughter, culpable homicide and murder. He's being charged with the latter.Culpable Homicide has been defined simply as "the unlawful negligent killing of a human being." Recently a bus driver was convicted of murder for disregarding a level crossing signal which resulted in the deaths of several children. Ditto in the case of a rapper who killed pedestrians.

chickelit said...

Loaf doth protest: Neither I nor the administration is trying to ban guns, idiot.

Well Feinstein is. Unless you want to parse the verb to ban.

Dixie_Sugarbaker said...

The article linked states that South Aftica has one of the highest rates of gun violence with 50 killings a day in a country of 50 million. The article further cites that the U.N. findings show that South Africa is 2nd only to Colombia in gun violence.

The article linked by Loafing Oaf states that guns are involved in residential robberies 77% of the time; business robberies 87% of the time; and involved in over half of deaths. That sounds like gun control is not working because the criminals have the guns, but not the law abiding citizens.

Dixie_Sugarbaker said...

The article linked states that South Aftica has one of the highest rates of gun violence with 50 killings a day in a country of 50 million. The article further cites that the U.N. findings show that South Africa is 2nd only to Colombia in gun violence.

The article linked by Loafing Oaf states that guns are involved in residential robberies 77% of the time; business robberies 87% of the time; and involved in over half of deaths. That sounds like gun control is not working because the criminals have the guns, but not the law abiding citizens.

chickelit said...

The article linked states that South Aftica has one of the highest rates of gun violence with 50 killings a day in a country of 50 million. The article further cites that the U.N. findings show that South Africa is 2nd only to Colombia in gun violence.

Personally, I'm more worried about uranium disappearing from the old Belgian Congo.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If his Nike contract is scrapped, a la Lance Armstrong, who gets the metals?

Joe Schmoe said...

LoafingOaf, your own excerpts undermine your case for gun control. Female victims of gun violence dropped by half from 1999 to 2009. Strict gun control limits were enacted in 2004.

So in other words, gun violence on women was decreasing anyways, and continued decreasing at the same rate even after strict gun limits were enacted halfway through the ten year period.

Bob Boyd said...

Yahoo News blames the gun right in the headline:

"Oscar Pistorius charged with murder, reportedly had firearms at home to allay fears of invasion"

test said...

chickelit said...
Loaf doth protest: Neither I nor the administration is trying to ban guns, idiot.

Well Feinstein is.


There's also a word missing in Loaf's assertion: today.

That's the thing with progressives though. The things they call you an idiot for worrying about today they call you an idiot for opposing tomorrow. Some small number like Althouse recognize the bait and switch, but so what? They lose authority or die and are replaced by those more recently through the indoctrination process who only know those against today's two minutes of hate are against progress.

Wince said...

It's always sadder when good-looking people are killed.

SJ said...

@Loafing Oaf,

I think you mentioned something about South African gun control.

By my read, it is much more stringent than gun control in most parts of the United States. (I'm not even sure if displaying the guns on wall-mounts, outside of a gun safe, is allowed in South Africa. However, the news article mentions the athlete as doing so...did he get special favor by being a famous athlete?)

Bob Boyd said...

Ignorance is Bliss said:
"As the saying goes, No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her crap."

I guess Oscar should have just taken it in stride.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's always sadder when good-looking people are killed.

Her beauty just limped off the page.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oscar Pistorious was charged...

I had to remember this is not today's sentence.

Aridog said...

LoafingOaf said...

Obama himself shoots skeet at Camp David, as I have since I was in junior high.

Cool. And please to get a couple photos of the two of you shooting skeet at Camp David next time y'all up there, okay?

Anton said...

Wow! Ms. Steenkamp is certainly an attractive woman. It's hard to see what she saw in him?

Aridog said...

Lem said...

Oscar Pistorius may yet be the first double amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal ...

The *emphasis* on "yet" is due to the fact that Pistorius has not won any world level able bodied track medals, World championships or Olympics, to date, unless I have missed something (if so, correct me please).

To my knowledge, he's run in some "able bodied" heats, but never placed in the finals.

Known Unknown said...

William S. Burroughs, Kurt Cobain, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius,

Guess what else these guys may have had in common?

Aridog said...

Anton said...

It's hard to see what she saw in him?

Ca-Ching!

And publicity, of course, (closely related to Ca-Ching)in the heroic fandango of the 2012 Olympics.

Cedarford said...

People at Nike, that spent 10s of millions promoting and pimping this guy as a cripple hero - are not likely too happy today.

This is one of the places where CSI style forensics and accident recreation does have a pretty good track record. Reconstructing the shooting scene - looking for evidence of a struggle or altercation, getting the exact lighting down, doing the timeline - The sum of that will indicate probability of accidental shooting of a presumed burglar or deliberate crime of passion shooting.

Colonel Angus said...

Didn't say they were. I'm a gun owner myself.

I'll give you credit for being upfront about your hypocrisy. Being a gun owner but demanding gun control for everyone else.

pdug said...

South African gun murder rates don't have very many places to go but down.

I imagine they've murdered all the low hanging fruit already, and the rest have fled, and gun control is closing the barn door after the horse left.

Blue Ox said...

Neither I nor the administration is trying to ban guns, idiot.

"We need to reinstate the assault weapons ban" - the Administration

"I agree" - LoafingOaf

Kelly said...

Wow, this is exciting. It's like a Lifetime made for TV movie dealing with domestic abuse AND the anger and despair of the disabled. It's a twofer, as a CNN panel might suggest.

Baron Zemo said...

You know what is really scary?

Guys who have a fetish about Sarah Palin's uterus.

Just sayn'

edutcher said...

LoafingOaf said...

Yet the Oaf lumps himself in with all the "nuts" owning guns he claims to deplore.

Neither I nor the administration is trying to ban guns, idiot.


If he really believes that, he's the idiot.

Obama himself shoots skeet at Camp David, as I have since I was in junior high.

Yes, he told us.

And has a picture of him shooting at a nearby hill to prove it.

TMink said...

Icepick, I agree with all you wrote. Many do have an outstanding trait, but like with Hawking, he was famous. There are other people as intelligent and creative as he, they just are not famous.

So it is not even the outstanding trait that makes them famous, as there are others with that outstanding trait and more.

Famous people are just famous.

What do you think?

Trey

Kirk Parker said...

"William S. Burroughs, Kurt Cobain, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius"

Noted religious-right survivalist cranks, all. Of course we're not surprised...

Salamandyr said...

"Didn't say they were. I'm a gun owner myself. But this guy sounds like he was perhaps too obsessed with his guns. "

He masturbates four times a day! That's sick! Everybody knows that sane people only masturbate three times a day!

Basta! said...

"William S. Burroughs, Kurt Cobain, Phil Spector, Oscar Pistorius"

The first 3 drug and/or alcohol abuse. Pistorius?

traditionalguy said...

The first shot would have given him enough light to see his companion that he would know easily.

So why did he shoot the rest of the shots?

Icepick said...

It's hard to see what she saw in him?

Women love a guy with a big "stump", an he had at least two that were larger than average. I've got a buddy that's lost a leg just below the knee. He gets WAY more action now than he did when he had all his parts.

Icepick said...

So it is not even the outstanding trait that makes them famous, as there are others with that outstanding trait and more.

Famous people are just famous.

What do you think?


I think Hawking had two traits that together made him very unique: Cosmologist and ALS victim. Plus he had a cool topic to catch interest (quantum black holes!) and happened to write a fairly readable (for the subject matter) book on the subject. Minus pretty much any of those things and he's just some other cosmologist famous to about 2,000 people in the world.

rcocean said...

"It's always sadder when good-looking people are killed."

Ha. Still I couldn't help being a little sad when a good-looking young women was killed. More then I would be if she'd been ugly or a guy.

I thinks we're genetically programmed to feel that way.

Unknown said...

I don't think we're necessarily genetically programmed to be asshats - it's just that we know she lost something more precious than an ugly person. Or a zygote, for instance. Boom.




Unknown said...

Since we're being horrible, it's interesting to see what she got in return for devoting her fine self to the crippled guy. She overlooked his handicap! What an angel! And she looks like an angel and surely she'll be blessed for her pure heart and...

Bam. Bam. Bam. Pop. The end.

No Santa Claus either.

Miva said...

Found Oscar Pistarius ex girlfriend Samantha Taylor here, I think she was well aware of his crazed guns ways http://fabwags.com/samantha-taylor-oscar-pistorius-ex-girlfriend-photos/

Palladian said...

Wow! Ms. Steenkamp is certainly an attractive woman.

Not anymore!

It's hard to see what she saw in him?

Huh? Hard to see what she saw in him?! He is a hot sonofabitch! Too bad he (may be) a murderer.

Palladian said...

I thinks we're genetically programmed to feel that way.

Maybe you are. Sounds like some sort of gene mutation to me.

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