For a story already loaded with twists, here’s another: It’s been revealed that Oscar Pistorius’ brother, Carl, is facing a culpable homicide trial for his alleged role in the 2008 death of a female motorcyclist. Carl denies being at fault for the accident. ”Blood tests conducted by the police at the time proved that he had not been under the influence of alcohol, confirming that it was a tragic road accident after the deceased collided with Carl’s car,” said his lawyer, Kenny Oldwage. The charges, which had been at one point withdrawn, were reinstated in the wake of Oscar’s case… which is similar to what happened to former investigator Hilton Botha. (photo by Tj Lemon/EPA)
Pistorius bail hearing in chaos as lead detective is axed from case
(Photo: Alexander Joe / AFP - Getty Images)
Oscar Pistorius’ bail hearing descended into chaos Thursday as the lead detective investigating the killing of the Olympian’s girlfriend was removed from the case amid attempted murder charges of his own.
Yeah, that seemed like a foregone conclusion. Jesus.
South African police say the lead investigator in the case against double-amputee Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius faces attempted murder charges in an October 2011 shooting.
Police Brig. Neville Malila said Thursday that detective Hilton Botha is scheduled to appear in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder. Malila says Botha and two other police officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in the incident.
On Wednesday, the prosecution case against Pistorius began to unravel with revelations of a series of police blunders and Botha’s admission that authorities have no evidence challenging the double-amputee Olympian’s claim he killed his girlfriend accidentally.
So this is not exactly the prosecution’s best showing. Let’s hope that this drama doesn’t get in the way of figuring out what actually happened.
Botha initially asserted that he had found two boxes of “steroids” in Pistorius’s bedroom, hastily changing this to “two boxes of testosterone, needles and injections”. Later, questioned by advocate Barry Roux for the defence, Botha had to admit he could not be certain of the contents. Roux said it was a “herbal remedy” called testo-composutim co-enzyme used by many athletes, insisting: “It is not a steroid and it is not a banned substance.”
Botha also told the court one of his witnesses had heard a fight, “two people talking loudly at each other”, between 2 and 3am on 14 February. But, pressured by Roux, he conceded that the witness had not identified the voices as belonging to Pistorius and Steenkamp and lived some 600 metres away. There was a collective murmur from Pistorius’s family. Botha later changed his estimate to 300 metres when questioned by the prosecution.
Botha acknowledged that Pistorius’s legal team had found a spent bullet cartridge in the toilet bowl that his officers did not. He also confronted Botha, saying: “You were in the house walking with unprotected shoes. That should not happen.” Botha conceded that it should not.
Botha said police found two iPhones in the bathroom and two BlackBerrys in the bedroom, adding that none had been used to phone for help. But Roux claimed the defence team had another phone in its possession that the police had failed to request. “Why did you not come to us and ask for Pistorius’s cellphone number?” he asked.
Roux also took him to task for failing to check Pistorius’s claim that he phoned the Netcare hospital at 3.20am.
Botha said ammunition for a .38-calibre weapon had been found at the house but Pistorius did not hold a licence for it. “Did you take steps to find out who the owner of the ammunition was?” Roux demanded. Botha replied: “No, I didn’t.”
“I feel like the court proceedings went well today,” said Pistorius’ brother, Carl. ”We trust that everyone has more clarity about this tragic incident.”
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