Think of a time when something traumatic’s happened to you. Did you clearly remember every detail? Would you appear convincing under aggressive crossexamination a year later? Now imagine that the traumatic thing was accidentally/negligently killing your girlfriend. Fair to say that’d mess up your day.

Lots of folks on here seem keen to make black and white judgements, “his story is inconsistent- he must be guilty” There’s lots of reasons his story could be inconsistent or inaccurate, not wanting to face up to the facts doesn’t mean he murdered her.

Also I think it’s pretty hard to really put yourself in his place- mate of mine grew up in south africa, he’s more understanding of the “**** someone’s in the house, shoot them before they shoot you” approach than I am. And no denying he’s more vulnerable than an able bodied person so maybe reaching for a gun becomes more reasonable, and the level of fear/panic/paranoia required to pull teh trigger on someone you’ve not seen becomes less insane.

The stuff about his dodgy firearms history has been pitched as an attack on him but to me it seems to back up the accidental death defence- he likes playing with guns, that’s consistent with being too quick to use one in “defence”

Seems pretty certain he’s guilty of being an arsehole and a danger to others. Not sure he’s a murderer. I’d be more suspicious if he had a perfectly rehearsed tidy story with no weaknesses- and really, does this strike anyone as a good way to murder someone? Having said that he’s an arsehole, so maybe it did.

+1 Northwind. It’s unclear.

Can’t imagine a situation when i would wake up, hear a noise in the loo, not notice my wife wasn’t in the bed and assume it was a burglar nicking my toilet brush so shoot 4 rounds off without warning/checking.

As above, if you haven’t lived in this kind of environment why would you be able to imagine it?

I’m sure my first thought would be for my wife and kids, but if I were a vain self-obsessed arsehole shagging a pretty woman as a trophy, perhaps it wouldn’t be. No-one’s saying he’s not a thoroughly unpleasant bloke, and such a bloke could easily accidentally shoot someone I think. It’s going to be hard to prove either way imo. I think the prosecutor should easily be able to get a conviction for murder I reckon – he’s done enough to convince STW already!

It’s simple, he killed her, and needs to go to jail. If he murdered her, he needs to go to jail for longer.

I have lived in South Africa if that better qualifies me to make that statement.

Also I think it’s pretty hard to really put yourself in his place- mate of mine grew up in south africa, he’s more understanding of the “**** someone’s in the house, shoot them before they shoot you” approach than I am. And no denying he’s more vulnerable than an able bodied person so maybe reaching for a gun becomes more reasonable, and the level of fear/panic/paranoia required to pull teh trigger on someone you’ve not seen becomes less insane.

Then you’ll understand that hes being tried in the right place by people who also live in such an environment and are more likely to view/treat him fairly no?

If he had done this in any other country trying to argue his background, for many factors it’d be a different kettle of fish wouldn’t it.

It’s simple, he killed her, and needs to go to jail. If he murdered her, he needs to go to jail for longer.

Of course. We know he killed her, we know he’s going away, but they are trying to decide how long. That’s the non-simple part.

Whatever happens I dont think he should ever be allowed anywhere near guns again. Especially if they go off miraculously as he claimed on Friday.

Oscar who?

Oscar who?

You may know him as Oscar the Grouch.

hora – Member

Then you’ll understand that hes being tried in the right place by people who also live in such an environment and are more likely to view/treat him fairly no?

Yup. I’m commenting on the court of singletrack here you understand.

It’s natural and understandable that he can’t recall every detail. His problem is that he is either guessing or making the answers up on the spot. This makes it easy for Nel to tie him up in knots, make him look like a liar and so destroy his credibility. The correct answer, when you don’t know or can’t remember, is ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t remember’. Honest answers make you look like an honest witness which gives the rest of your evidence more credibility.

Knock, Knock
Who’s th…bang, bang, bang, bang
Its Oscar, I thought you were in bed 😆

Where does one acquire a gun that senses when you are terrified and then fires itself accidentally automatically without the bearer’s input (and responsibility). Isn’t technology amazing.

Lower down the page is a pretty good 3D image/layout of the flat. I didn’t realise just how close he was when getting the fans to his bed etc:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27018395

Whatever happens I dont think he should ever be allowed anywhere near guns again. Especially if they go off miraculously as he claimed on Friday.

Exactly, so if he applies to join the prison shooting club they should just say Oi Pisto get stuffed you nutter

Another twist…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27405303