They had been dating for only three months when the Paralympian athlete nicknamed the Blade Runner shot and killed her. On Tuesday, Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for culpable homicide for shooting Reeva, having been acquitted of the more serious charge of murder. He is serving his sentence at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. Pistorius told the High Court in Pretoria that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot her in the early hours of Valentines Day in 2013 through a toilet door at his home at Silver Woods Estate in Pretoria. However, 68-year-old June says she is convinced he lied in court and knew who he was aiming at when he fired four bullets through the locked door and blew the brains out of her skull. In a joint interview with husband Barry in the London Times, June said she believed that her daughter knew in her heart of hearts that she would not be happy with the volatile and combustible double amputee and had decided to end the affair. She writes in her book: Her clothes were packed. There is no doubt in our minds: she had decided to leave Oscar that night. It was Reevas bad luck that she met him, because sooner or later he would have killed someone. I do believe that. June Steenkamp also describes Pistorius as: moody, arrogant, possessive, gun-toting, vague, shifty and evasive. In other sensational claims, she told The Times that if the fallen athlete had not killed her daughter, he would have killed somebody else sooner or later. She said she believed the trigger- happy double amputee shot his girlfriend in a jealous rage, then finished her off with three more bullets so she couldnt tell the world what really happened. I think he may have shot once and then he had to go on and kill her because she would have been able to tell the world what really happened, what hes really like. He said pulling the trigger was an accident. What? Four times an accident? June writes in her book. He said Reeva did not scream, but she would definitely have screamed. I know my daughter and she was very vocal. Both June and Barry have children from their previous marriages. Reeva, a late child, was unexpected, June says. I think she was a gift from God. Oscars story, I dont believe, she told The Times. It seems to me he did not look for her when he says he thought he heard intruders. Not one of his actions suggests he felt protective towards her. A lot of people have guns in South Africa and everyone knows, bottom line, you never ever shoot if you have not checked where your own people are. To look at him now, hes a pathetic figure. He looks haunted. Hes already been punished in a way. Whatever is in his head is in his head forever. He will have to live with that, she writes in Reeva: a Mothers Story. June says when Reeva appeared at the South African Sports Awards on Pistoriuss arm in November 2012, her friends feared she had become a trophy girlfriend. The athlete told the court during his testimony that Reeva had struggled with the press scrutiny that came with the relationship. June dismissed this as rubbish. She speculated that Reeva enjoyed the attention, and that perhaps a relationship with the superstar athlete clouded her judgment. How much of an unattractive attitude did she dismiss because he was a golden boy? How much was she flattered to have won his heart? In the three months that they knew each other, Reeva and Pistorius had become one of South Africas most glamorous couples. She had broken up with her long-term boyfriend Warren Lahoud, the man her parents thought she would marry, a few months earlier. There was a brief dalliance with Springbok scrumhalf Francois Hougaard. During the trial, Pistorius said he and Reeva were planning a life together, but June told The Times that her daughter had nagging doubts about their compatibility. She had confided to me that she hadnt slept with him. Theyd shared a bed, but she was scared to take the relationship to that level ... She wouldnt want to sleep with Oscar if she wasnt sure. I believe their relationship was coming to an end. In her heart of hearts, she didnt think it was making either of them happy. Both June and 71-year-old Barry said they believed their daughter was gradually being ground down by Pistoriuss constant demands and moody temperament. Reeva was unhappy when she arrived at Pistoriuss house for the last time. CCTV footage, according to her mother, shows her looking miserable as she approaches the gated estate. Something was brewing. The couple were fighting. The Steenkamps said they believed the testimony of a neighbour who heard two people arguing from 1.56am, which Judge Thokozile Masipa discounted in her verdict. There is no doubt in our minds that something went horribly wrong, something upset her so terribly that she hid behind a locked door with two mobile phones, June writes. Other facts did not add up, said the Steenkamps. Reeva was shot wearing a sleeveless black top and grey tracksuit shorts, clothes for a summers day, not her night clothes. She was facing the door when the first bullet struck her hip, probably pleading. Her mother told The Times she was also troubled by police photographs that showed Reevas jeans strewn across the bedroom floor, because Reeva was a neat freak. She would never leave them on the floor. She was tidy to the extreme. In the book, Reevas mother dissects every text, tweet and e- mail in the brief relationship, looking for hidden meaning. She concludes that it was volatile and unpredictable. Reeva said Pistorius scared her, and that he picked on her incessantly. Either of them could have received a Valentines Day message from another admirer that might have sparked a row, says June. June told Hello! magazine this week that Pistoriuss jail term was the best sentence we could have expected. Were not looking for vengeance or for him to get hurt; were just happy because hes going to be punished for what hes done. He may come out early on good behaviour, but by the time hes served that time, it will have taught him that he cant go around doing things like that. I believe Oscar expected to go to prison. He was almost resigned to what was coming. It was obvious in the court from his manner; he was calm and wasnt performing. The couple told The Times they have a recurring image of Reevas last minutes. It is the thought of her terrified and alone in the small toilet cubicle, pleading for her life or screaming in agony after she had been shot. Both of us are haunted by the same nightmare. The vision of Reeva suffering this terrible trauma. Her terror and helplessness. Her yells for help piercing the silent night air. Reevas mother says she sat through the trial because she wanted justice and the truth. Pistorius had lost a lot. He is in jail, penniless, suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder and his reputation is in tatters, she said.. But Reevas lost the possibility of having a grandchild for us. Having a baby, getting married. And, of course, her career was going so well. She was just about to take off. Now, shes not even here breathing, you know. Thats the thing.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:20:46 +0000
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