Was Reeva beaten with a bat?
What really happened on that Valentine’s eve of 13 February 2013, when Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed in the toilet of Oscar Pistorius’ house on 14 February? Did Oscar know that Reeva was behind the toilet door? Or did Oscar truly believe that an intruder was hiding behind that door?
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius might have hit his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp with a cricket bat before he killed her.
A new book by amateur forensic investigator brothers Thomas and Calvin Mollett postulates that Steenkamp suffered several injuries before she was shot dead in the toilet of Pistorius’ house on the Valentine’s evening of 13 February 2013.
The authors allege that two oval abrasions found on Steenkamp’s back match the corner of the Lazer cricket bat Pistorius said he had used to bash down the door after shooting.
According to Thomas, who briefly spoke to Rekord on Wednesday, this would suggest that Reeva sustained this injury, along with other bruises on her body, during a struggle that took place in Pistorius’s house before Reeva locked herself in the toilet.
Thomas from Piketberg and his brother Calvin, a civil engineer who lives in Canada, have just published their third book, Oscar vs The Truth (Piquet Publishers).
“In this book we look very carefully at Oscar’s version by examining the crime-scene photographs, relevant reports and the testimony of various witnesses in order to answer one question: Did Oscar know Reeva was behind the door?”
According to Thomas, they looked at crucial evidence that was poorly handled and overlooked in the case.
“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.”
The brothers strongly disagree with just about everything police ballistics expert Captain Chris Mangena postulated.
According to the brothers, Reeva was not sitting on the magazine rack at any time and they also disagree with Reeva’s final-position beside the toilet, as per Mangena, as well as the sequence of shots suggested by him.
The Molletts makes a strong argument as to why both the defence and prosecution’s explanation for the two wounds on Reeva’s back, is practically impossible – following from demonstrable evidence, that the wounds were therefore not inflicted in the toilet.
“If neither the magazine rack nor the ricocheted bullet caused these wounds, then what did, and when? While not stating it as a conclusive fact (as the cause of these wounds), they argue that the tip of the cricket bat is reconcilable with the size and nature of the wounds.”
The brothers point out various instances of sloppy and inadequate work by pathologist Professor Gert Saayman, most notably that he demonstrably failed, in his post mortem report, to record a small penetrative wound at the back of Reeva’s right upper arm.
“Love him or hate him, few can argue with the fact that Gerrie Nel is a formidable cross-examiner but he was seriously let down by poor forensic work, probably the worst we’ll see in a very long time. And just as the Lotz case was lost on the autopsy table when Dr Rachel Adendorff recorded two vital wound measurements incorrectly, so too in the Pistorius case when Gert Saayman performed a superficial and inadequate autopsy and was way too cautious, vague and full of guesswork on the stand.”
According to the brothers, Saayman had noted that Reeva’s right nipple had been “freshly abraded” but had done nothing more at the time apart from reverting back to photographs to find that skin stripping did occur.
“While viewing them in isolation and without taking into account the quantity, distribution and position of all the wounds in totality, he trivialised bruises on Reeva’s shin.”
In the book, the brothers ask why the prosecution did not properly present and argue all evidence (i.e. questioning Oscar about them under cross examination), such as the dented steel plate in the bathroom and the bullet hole and blunt object impact and other damage to the bedroom door. The authors argue that the police and prosecution failed in their duty to properly investigate and test the accused’s version.
Also read:
‘New evidence’ in the Oscar case
Oscar Pistorius released early
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