PARALYMPICS “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius was charged with murdering his
girlfriend yesterday after his neighbours heard three gunshots, then silence
for ten minutes — before three MORE.
The first blasts at 3am were accompanied by screams. Fellow South African
Reeva Steenkamp, 30 — a model and TV star — was found dead by cops who raced
to the athlete’s Pretoria home.
The athlete allegedly shot his girlfriend through a bathroom door, the Beeld
newspaper reported
READ:
Pistorius breaks down as he appears in court
Pistorius arrived at court today after he earlier left a police station with a
coat over his head.
TV footage showed he arrived at the court amid a media frenzy with the hearing
due to start before magistrates at 9am.
Brit heptathlete Jessica Ennis, 27, who won gold at London 2012, described the
Valentine’s Day bloodbath that shocked the world as “horrendous”.
The girlfriend of Pistorius told how she was excitedly looking forward to
Valentine’s Day just hours before he was held for her murder.
Reeva — who was blasted in the head and body — told pals on Twitter: “It
should be a day of love for everyone.”
The stunning blonde also asked pals: “What do you have up your sleeve for your
love tomorrow???”
Reeva never got to see it dawn — after screams and gunfire erupted at the
plush home of the world-famous athlete at 3am yesterday.
Cops raced to the South African’s house in Pretoria. They found his lover dead
in a pool of blood and arrested him after recovering a 9mm handgun.
He was later charged with murder — and will appear in court today. One
neighbour, whose doctor husband rushed to Pistorius’s house, told of hearing
three shots, followed by ten minutes’ silence — then three more.
A friend of the wife said as police rubbished claims the athlete may have
mistaken his lover for a burglar: “The husband tried to resuscitate her.
“From what they heard it doesn’t sound like an accident. There were three
gunshots and a woman’s screams. Almost ten minutes later there were three
more shots.”
Last night Pistorius — who earned his famous nickname because of his springy
blade-like prosthetic legs — was in a cell.
The runner, one of the biggest stars of London 2012 after also competing
against able-bodied athletes, earlier tried to hide his face with his hood
as he was taken from a police station.
His tight-lipped father Henke would say only that the athlete felt “sad and a
bit emotional”.
Reeva’s mother was last night described as “hysterical” with grief.
Her daughter, a law graduate famous as the face of Avon cosmetics in South
Africa, appeared on several TV shows there.
This weekend the model — named one of FHM magazine’s 100 sexiest women for two
years running — was due to have joined celebs in a reality TV series called
Tropika Island Of Treasure.
Show bosses said: “We are deeply saddened and extend our condolences to
Reeva’s family and friends.”
In her online messages as Valentine’s Day loomed, besotted Reeva added a
smiley face as she declared: “May it be blessed!” She also implored pals:
“Get excited.”
Initial reports suggested she may have been mistaken for a burglar as she
crept into her lover’s house as a Valentine surprise.
Pistorius is said to have kept an armoury of weapons in case of intruders —
even though the Silver Lakes Golf Estate where he lives is surrounded by
10ft walls and boasts private guards.
Just four months ago he told on Twitter how he went into “full combat recon
mode” when he mistook his noisy washing machine for a burglar.
But Brigadier Denise Beukes — one of the cops leading the murder probe — told
of her “surprise” at reports the shooting was a mix-up.
She said: “The allegations did not come from us. The deceased was a friend of
his.
“There are witnesses and they have also been interviewed this morning. We’re
talking about neighbours and people that heard things that happened earlier
in the evening and when the shooting took place.
“There was no sign of forced entry or persons who weren’t supposed to be there
at this stage.”
Reeva — who only a fortnight ago tweeted to her boyfriend that he was
“beautiful” — was said to have been hit by up to four bullets.
Pistorius’s arrest rocked his homeland — where the athlete who had to have his
legs amputated below the knees as a baby because of a congenital illness is
a national hero. His romance with Reeva after they met at an awards ceremony
there in November saw the couple dubbed South Africa’s version of Posh and
Becks.
Reeva’s publicist Sarit Tomlinson — who described her as an “absolute angel” —
insisted yesterday the couple had been in a “healthy, fabulous
relationship”.
But police revealed they had been called to the property on previous occasions
over “allegations of a domestic nature”.
The shooting horror comes just months after Pistorius threatened to break the
legs of a tycoon he accused of bedding a previous girlfriend aged 18 while
he was at the Olympics. Coal mining millionaire Quinton van der Burgh said
the athlete confronted him at a racetrack.
As the world of athletics reeled from yesterday’s shooting, Brit heptathlete
Jessica Ennis, 27 — who won gold at London 2012 — described it as
“horrendous”.
Former heptathlete Denise Lewis, 40, said it was “unbelievable”.
Shocked double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, 42, demanded: “Why did he
have a gun?”
South Africa abolished the death penalty for murder in 1995 — imposing
mandatory life sentences instead.
Yesterday experts scoured the athlete’s home as he was taken to a hospital to
have his fingernails scraped for forensic tests.
He was also made to give a blood sample which was tested for alcohol content.
The International Paralympic Committee expressed sorrow at the shooting.
But it refused to comment further, saying in a statement: “This is a police
matter.”
He took on world and won
PISTORIUS is the most successful amputee athlete ever:
NOVEMBER 22 1986: Born in Pretoria without a fibula in either leg.
SEPTEMBER 2004: Wins gold in the 200m at the Paralympics in Athens,
setting a new world record of 21.97secs.
MAY 2005: Wins the 100m and 200m at the Paralympic World Cup, both with
world records.
SEPTEMBER 2006: Wins gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the IPC World
Championships.
APRIL 2007: Breaks own 100m and 200m world records at the Nedbank
Championships for the Physically Disabled.
SEPTEMBER 2008: Wins the 100m, 200m and 400m at the Paralympics in
Beijing.
JANUARY 2011: Claims three IPC World titles in New Zealand — but is
beaten for the first time in seven years in the 100m.
AUGUST 2012: Becomes the first amputee runner at the Olympics when he
finishes second in a 400m heat. Carries his country’s flag at the closing
ceremony.
SEPTEMBER 2012: Finishes second in the final of the 200m T44
classification, then wins Paralympic gold in the 400m.
Murders rise with gun law
By FELIX ALLEN
SOUTH Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world with 50
homicides every day.
There were 18,148 murders recorded in 2008/9 compared with 662 in the UK. The
country is home to 12million fewer people.
With one in eight people owning a firearm tragedies are common. One dad
blasted his teenage daughter to death after mistaking her for a burglar.
Collin Masilela, 49, told cops he heard a noise and fired into the dark,
fearing raiders. The “intruder” was his daughter, 15, returning from a night
out.
Most households live in fear of being targeted by violent crooks.