Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend. Whether by accident or thinking it was someone else, or deliberately intending to kill her, we do not know. The judge will decide in due course.
Only he knows exactly what happened – the whole truth. This truth has not emerged in the trial, and did not appear to emerge during his testimony either. During his testimony, Oscar gave various explanations for how things were that night as he was able or willing to put on the court record, and where other evidence seemed at contradiction or variance with his story he suggested that evidence had been fabricated, or that (many) other people had lied, or that he did not understand how things could be (eg. how the gun in the restaurant had fired itself).
Our fascination with the trial is partly because many of us suspect strongly that he may actually have intended to shoot Reeva Steenkamp, suspect that he is not telling the full truth at the moment, and are intrigued as to how his defence will unfold when there are so many unanswered questions and contradictions in his version. He will be found guilty of some offence, as he has admitted shooting Reeva, even if acquitted of murder. He may be convicted on other charges as well. All will emerge in due course.
It seems therefore that, barring some very strange new developments, Oscar Pistorius will be sent to prison - and possibly for some time. He is still a young man, and may have some kind of further life as a free man in his middle age. Innocent or guilty of murder, he has an opportunity to redeem himself in the public eye and lay the basis of some degree of public acceptance for the future. I suggest that this is only possible if he uses the opportunity of his trial to tell the truth about what happened, and in a convincing way.
Can he redeem himself? This is Oscar’s big question. Can he find it in himself to go into what will seem to him to be a very dark place, and stand up in court to tell the whole truth. It will involve more tears and retching – no doubt. But if he were to stand up, acknowledge the truth and start to tell the whole story of himself (and his fascination with guns, difficulties with relationships etc), his relationship with Reeva, (and what went wrong), and what exactly happened that night, then I for one would be willing to give him the benefit of some doubt and accept that for the first time he was trying to take responsibility. It might lead to his conviction on the murder charge, but he is going down anyway. And he will lay the basis for his eventual redemption in the world, and the opportunity for him to move forward as a human being, on the basis that the truth can set us free.
Our fascination with the trial is partly because many of us suspect strongly that he may actually have intended to shoot Reeva Steenkamp, suspect that he is not telling the full truth at the moment, and are intrigued as to how his defence will unfold when there are so many unanswered questions and contradictions in his version. He will be found guilty of some offence, as he has admitted shooting Reeva, even if acquitted of murder. He may be convicted on other charges as well. All will emerge in due course.
It seems therefore that, barring some very strange new developments, Oscar Pistorius will be sent to prison - and possibly for some time. He is still a young man, and may have some kind of further life as a free man in his middle age. Innocent or guilty of murder, he has an opportunity to redeem himself in the public eye and lay the basis of some degree of public acceptance for the future. I suggest that this is only possible if he uses the opportunity of his trial to tell the truth about what happened, and in a convincing way.
Can he redeem himself? This is Oscar’s big question. Can he find it in himself to go into what will seem to him to be a very dark place, and stand up in court to tell the whole truth. It will involve more tears and retching – no doubt. But if he were to stand up, acknowledge the truth and start to tell the whole story of himself (and his fascination with guns, difficulties with relationships etc), his relationship with Reeva, (and what went wrong), and what exactly happened that night, then I for one would be willing to give him the benefit of some doubt and accept that for the first time he was trying to take responsibility. It might lead to his conviction on the murder charge, but he is going down anyway. And he will lay the basis for his eventual redemption in the world, and the opportunity for him to move forward as a human being, on the basis that the truth can set us free.
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