Pistorius claims he didn't know she was out of bed

[Guest confidence]

According to the NY Times, Pistorious says he woke up and heard a noise, didn't know his girlfriend got out of bed earlier and shot her through the bathroom door because he thought an intruder came through the bathroom window.

 

If this is actually true, then this is a classic example of someone not following basic rules of self-defense and there should be some sort negligent manslaughter charge or something, at the least. Currently, they are charging him with premeditated murder, however, because they apparently don't believe his story.

[Jonnin]

Its a hard story to buy.  He claims to have yelled out but no response.  He claims to have been able to get his gun and get out of the bed (without legs...) while not noticing the sleeping woman there?  What did she supposedly, do, get up to take a whizz & lump up the sheets and pillows to look like she was still there, and not respond to his yelling because she was playing a joke?!  

 

He maybe screwed up, but if so, that has booze or dope written all over it.....   I hope they took a blood sample from him.

[Guest confidence]

Some more detail about why he says he didn't know she wasn't in bed is here. Still hard to buy. :(

[scoutfsu]

Maybe, maybe not.  What worries me about the prosecution and their mindset is a statement like this:

 

There was "no possible explanation to support" Pistorius' claim that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder, Nel said.

And he added that even if Steenkamp had been an intruder, the shooting would still have been the murder of a burglar.

 

Even if?  That shows that they don't have much of a case at the moment.  They have no idea what happened or what went wrong.  They're charging just to charge.

[strickj]

I believe him more than the authorities.

 

Says she was in bed when he got up to get a fan. When he came back in, he heard a noise. Although careless, I can see why he never assumed it was his wife, as she was in the bed just seconds before.

You can read stories just like this over on barf. Super tactical commando hears his wife or kid sneeze and he empties his gun safe in order to clear the house. :rolleyes:

 

The authoritys' base for premeditated murder is a locked bathroom door and him owning a gun.

Authorities said he would STILL be charged with premeditated murder if it was a burglar. And what woman doesn't lock the bathroom door for crying out loud.

 

Sounds like they want the notoriety of convicting an evil gun loving celebrity.

[Guest confidence]

A few tips to help prevent this sort of thing: http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-onions-tips-for-not-accidentally-murdering-you,31359/