Oscar Pistorius beat Reeva Steenkamp with cricket bat before killing, new book claims April 22, 2016
An appeal court ruling overturns Oscar Pistorius’ conviction for culpable homicide and finds him guilty of murder, a decision welcomed by South Africans.
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Johannesburg: Reeva Steenkamp was beaten with a cricket bat by Oscar Pistorius before he fired the fatal shots through a locked lavatory door that killed her, a new book into the forensic evidence of the sensational case claims.
The book, Oscar vs The Truth, was written by brothers Calvin and Thomas Mollett, amateur sleuths who have previously examined other controversial cases in their native South Africa.
Victim: Reeva Steenkamp was beaten before being fatally shot, a new book claims.
They argue that police investigating the St Valentine’s Day shooting started from the point that they had a strong case against Paralympic athlete Pistorius.
As a result, the book says, they contaminated the scene, for example by walking over the lavatory door and moving the gun. They also overlooked vital clues, such as possible drag marks made in the blood stains by Pistorius walking on his stumps and unexplained damage done to a metal plate near the model’s body.
“One gets the impression that police arrived on the scene and thought they had an open-and-shut case against Oscar,” the authors write. “They knew he pulled the trigger, and had statements from the neighbours who heard a woman scream – why bother doing a proper forensic investigation.”
Broken: Reeva Steenkamp’s mother June is comforted at South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeals in 2015.
They claim that two oval bruises on the model’s back, previously attributed to her falling on a magazine rack as she was shot, could have been made by the corner of the cricket bat Pistorius told the court he used to break down the lavatory door.
They also note a bruise on the model’s bottom and an abrasion to her nipple that were unexplained, and pointed to tearing to the rubber wrapped around the cricket bat handle, saying it indicated more sustained use than the three or four blows Pistorius said he used to break down the door after he realised he had shot his girlfriend.
“Is this how the rubber would have looked after only four blows, hard blows as they might have been? Or were there other blows and action with the bat as well? Was there some pulling and twisting on the rubber while one person tried to take the bat from another?” the brothers ask.
Before the storm: Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp in 2012.
Reeva Steenkamp, 29, died at Pistorius’ Pretoria home in the early hours of February 14, 2013, after he fired four shots at her through a locked bathroom door. He claimed he believed there was an intruder in his home. He was convicted of manslaughter but his conviction was upgraded to murder on appeal by the state last year.
The Mollett brothers, one of whom is an engineer living in Canada and the other a South African resident of unknown occupation, said the evidence pointed to an argument the night Steenkamp died, citing the evidence of a female witness who heard a row starting just before 2am.
As Steenkamp fled from her boyfriend he struck her twice on the back with the cricket bat before using it later to break down the door, they argued.
Convicted: Oscar Pistorius said he believed an intruder was in his house.
“The argument didn’t just take place in the bedroom but elsewhere in the house as well,” they wrote in their 208-page investigation.
“At around 3am, Reeva started fearing for her personal safety and locked herself in the toilet. Oscar went after her with a cricket bat – infuriated that she locked herself away from him – and to scare and frighten her, he hit the door with the cricket bat about 2-3 times and also hit the steel plate against the bathtub wall.”
Dr David Klatzow, a forensic scientist who followed the case closely, agreed with the brothers that the police investigation was “extraordinarily bad” and many aspects of evidence were “unexplained”.
The cricket bat Pistorius says he used to break down the toilet door after he shot Miss Steenkamp is seen next to a blood-soaked towel on the bathroom floor
Pistorius says he used the bat to break down the door to get to his model girlfriend after shooting her, he claims, by mistake thinking she was a burglar.
Found here DailyMail The photos that Pistorius couldn’t bear to see
Did Oscar Pistorius dress Reeva’s naked body after he shot her dead?
- New photo reveals ‘bullet holes on model’s vest did not match her fatal wounds’
- Athelete claims he accidentally shot Reeva after mistaking her for intruder.
- Two forensic experts now claim her injuries prove he murdered the model
- They believe two wounds on her back match the tip of his cricket bat
- A small hole on Reeva’s arm ‘shows he shot her with air rifle as she fled’
- Backs up prosecution case he shot her in fit of rage during a violent row
- See more of the latest on Oscar Pistorius as new evidence emerges
By SIMON TOMLINSON and SARA MALM FOR MAILONLINE 22 April 2016
Oscar Pistorius dressed the naked dead body of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after shooting her dead on Valentine’s day three years ago, an explosive new book claims
Forensic experts say that the black vest top Miss Steenkamp was wearing when police arrived at the scene does not have holes matching her bullet wounds and very little blood on it.
In addition, they question the presence of black bin liners and tape, which Pistorius later claimed had been intended to use to soak up blood from the scene.
Not enough damage: Forensic experts say the damage to the vest does not match the bullet wounds on Reeva Steenkamp’s body, and the top ought to have been soaked in blood had she worn it when she was shot
Not enough damage: Forensic experts say the damage to the vest does not match the bullet wounds on Reeva Steenkamp’s body, and the top ought to have been soaked in blood had she worn it when she was shot
The claims have been made by brothers Calvin and Thomas Mollett in their new book Oscar vs The Truth after studying evidence and conducting their own tests for over a year.
‘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 ,’ Thomas Mollett told .‘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.’
CCTV of Miss Steenkamp arriving at Pistorius house shows her wearing a black vest top, however the Mollett brothers state the state of the top after her death is evidence he dressed her after he shot her dead. The Mollett brothers also point to the presence of a bundle of black bin bags and tape, seen lying next to Miss Steenkamp’s dead body in a forensic photograph from the scene.
CCTV images shows Miss Steenkamp arriving at Pistorius house on February 13, wearing what is believed to be the black vest top she was later found wearing by police
Pistorius was cleared of murdering Miss Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, on Valentine’s Day 2013, but found guilty of manslaughter after a dramatic trial in which he claimed he killed her accidentally
The Mollett brothers believe these two injuries (pictured right) on the model’s back match the tip of the cricket bat
Pistorius’ trial was told that the bin bags had been used to stem the flow of blood, despite there being little blood seen in the images as Miss Steenkamp had died within minutes after being shot.
‘Would any reasonable person really use a black bag to stop someone bleeding? It just make no sense, it is illogical,’ Mr Mollett added.
The Paralympian told his trial that he accidentally killed Reeva Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder at his home in Pretoria three years ago.
However, the Mollet brothers’ claim the never-before-seen forensic pictures conclusively proves the athlete murdered the model.
They point to two injuries on the model’s back they say match the tip of his cricket bat, while marks on the ripped and blood-covered handle suggest there was a struggle.
Other pictures appear to show a 4.5mm hole in the athlete’s bedroom door which is believed to match the caliber of his air rifle.
A similar-sized wound was also found on Reeva’s arm, suggesting he may have fired at her with the weapon as the model fled the bedroom.
Another image of a dented steel plate on the side of the bath also appears to support the idea he wielded the bat in fit of rage.
Speaking to Jane Flanagan for The Sun, Thomas Mollet said: ‘Oscar went after her with a cricket bat, infuriated that she locked herself away from him.
‘To scare and frighten her, he hit the door with the cricket bat about two to three times and also hit the steel plate against the bathtub wall.’
Scene of horror: This photograph shows the blood-soaked bathroom where Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the toilet cubicle (top) with his 9mm pistol (seen lying on a bathmat, right) and the blood-splattered cricket bat (bottom right).
Forensics experts Calvin and Thomas Mollett claim that marks on the ripped and blood-covered handle of the bat suggest there was a struggle between the pair
This graphic appears to show how the tip of the cricket matches with the shape of the wound on Reeva’s back
Ballistics expert in 2014: ‘Steenkamp died protecting her head’
The Molletts have questioned why these injuries were not scrutinised by the pathologist and police investigators or shown at the trial.
Writing in their book, they said: ‘One gets the impression that police arrived on the scene and thought they had an open-and-shut case against Oscar.
‘They knew he pulled the trigger, and had statements from the neighbours who heard a woman scream – why bother doing a proper forensic investigation’.
If confirmed, their evidence would cement the prosecution’s case that Pistorius gunned down Miss Steenkamp in a fit of rage during a late-night row after she had locked herself in the toilet cubicle.
The athlete claimed he fired four times through the closed door in self-defence fearing a burglar was about to jump out at him.
He told his trial that when he realised it was his girlfriend, he used the cricket bat to smash down the door to try to save her.
Other pictures appear to show a 4.5mm hole in the athlete’s bedroom door (left) which is believed to match the caliber of his air rifle. A similar-sized wound was also found on Reeva’s arm (right), suggesting he may have fired at her with the weapon as the model fled the bedroom
A police officer takes part in the reconstruction of the hitting of the door with the cricket bat. Pistorius told his trial that he used the bat to smash down the toilet door after realising he had shot his girlfriend
Read more:
- Revealed: New forensic pics that ‘prove Pistorius battered Reeva with cricket bat and shot her with second gun BEFORE murdering her in bathroom’
- Fans holding Je Suis Oscar signs pray in court as murderer
- Pictured: The shocking injuries that ‘prove’ Oscar Pistorius…
- Pistorius sentencing hearing set for June