12 Crimes of Christmas - "THE BLADE RUNNER'S VALENTINE: OSCAR PISTORIUS AND THE MURDER OF REEVA STEENKAMP"

0:03 Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Wednesday, December thirty first, twenty twenty five, New Year's Eve, last day of the year, last episode of our twelve Crimes of Christmas series, before we wrap things up this weekend and today. The Valentine's Day murder that shattered an Olympic hero's image and took a young woman's life. February fourteenth, twenty thirteen, Pretoria, South Africa, three am, the pre dawn hours of Valentine's Day. Oscar Pistorius, twenty six years old, South Africa's Golden Boy Olympic sprinter global icon, fired four hollow point bullets through his locked bathroom door. On the other side, Reva Steinkamp, twenty nine years old, model, law school graduate, domestic violence advocate, his girlfriend of three months. Three bullets struck her hip, arm head. She died almost instantly. Pistorius's story he thought she was an intruder, heard a noise, grabbed his gun, fired in fear, a tragic mistake. The prosecution story, they'd had a fight, she locked herself in the bathroom, He shot her in a rage. The trial captivated the world.

1:23 The Blade Runner, the Double amputee who'd run in the Olympics on carbon fiber legs and inspired millions, accused of murdering the woman he claimed to love. The verdict took years, the sentence kept changing, and in January twenty twenty four, Oscar Pistorius walked out of prison. A freeman served eight and a half years for killing Revestine Camp. Her mother, June, said it best. There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back. We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence. I'm read Carter. This is celebrity trials today. Oscar Pistorius, Reva Steinkamp and the Valentine's Day murder that proved heroes can become monsters.

2:08 Someone has to say her name. Before February fourteenth, twenty thirteen, Oscar Pistorius was one of the most inspiring athletes in the world. Born November twenty second, nineteen eighty six, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Born with fibular hemimilia, a congenital condition where both legs were missing the fibula bone. Before he turned one year old, both his legs were amputated below the knee. His mother refused to treat him as disabled, encouraged him to compete in sports, play rugby, water polo, wrestling. Oscar never saw himself as limited, neither did anyone who watched him.

2:51 At seventeen, he discovered running. A rugby injury led to track rehabilitation, and suddenly coaches realized this kid with prosthetic legs was fast, really fast. He started running on carbon fiber blades, curved prosthetics that mimicked the spring of e cheetah's hind legs. The technology was revolutionary, so was Oscar. Two thousand and four Athens Paralympics gold in the two hundred meters, bronze in the one hundred two thousand and eight Beijing Paralympics, three gold medals, world records. He was unstoppable, but Oscar didn't want to be a Paralympic champion. He wanted to run against able bodied athletes. Proved that his blades weren't a disadvantage, they were just different. Twenty twelve London Olympics, Oscar Pistorius became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games. He didn't medal, finished eighth in the four hundred meters but it didn't matter. He'd made history, proved that disability didn't mean inability. The world loved him, Blade Runner, the fastest man on no legs.

3:59 Nike sign him. Endorsement deals poured in. He was earning over a million dollars a year in sponsorships, prize money, appearance fees. In South Africa, a country still healing from apartheid, Oscar Pistorius represented possibility, a man born with every disadvantage who conquered the world through pure determination. Heat magazine named him South Africa's favorite celebrity in twenty eleven. His face was on billboards, magazine covers, television commercials. He dated models, drove fast cars, lived in a luxury home and a gated community in Pretoria. He also owned guns, lots of them.

4:41 Was obsessed with firearms. Friends described him as paranoid about crime, understandable in South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but Oscar's relationship with weapons went beyond security. A twenty thirteen New York Times profile described Oscar taking a reporter to a gun range in in the middle of the night. Asked how often he went shooting, Oscar said just sometimes. When I can't sleep. He couldn't sleep, so he shot guns. By late twenty twelve, Oscar Pistorius was at the height of his fame, had everything, money, adoration, a new girlfriend who seemed perfect for him. Riva Steamcamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius would kill three months after they started dating. Riva Rebecca Stemcamp was born August nineteenth, nineteen eighty three, in Cape Town, South Africa, daughter of Barry, a horse trainer, and June, who was born in England.

5:45 She grew up in Port Elizabeth, attended Saint Dominic's Priory School. Started modeling at fourteen, but Riva was never just a pretty face. She went to law school, graduated from the University of Port Elizabeth with a law degree in two thousand and five. Worked as a paralegal while building her modeling career. Applied to the bar in twenty eleven with plans to become a legal advocate by age thirty. Her passion helping victims of domestic violence. The irony is devastating. Reva Steenkamp spent her life advocating against violence toward women, and she was killed by her boyfriend. By twenty twelve, Reva's career was taking off. She modeled for FHM magazine twice, named one of the one hundred Sexiest Women in the World, became the first South African face of Avon Cosmetics, appeared in television commercials for Toyota Clover Industries. Worked as a live presenter for Fashion TV. She was cast in season five of the reality show Tropeka Island of Treasure. Filmed episodes in Jamaica. The show premiered two days after her death.

6:53 When Riva met Oscar Pistorius in November twenty twelve, she was twenty nine years old, he was twenty six. Both were successful, attractive, moving in the same celebrity circles in Johannesburg. Friends said they clicked immediately. Oscar's friend stated Oscar told Meriva could be the girl he would one day marry. Riva told a friend, if Oscar asked her to marry him, she would probably say yes. They went public as a couple, quickly attended red carpet events together, posted photos on social media. Looked like the Golden couple, South Africa's Olympic hero and his stunning girlfriend, but text messages told a different story.

7:35 Three weeks before her death, Riva texted Oscar, I was not flirting with anyone today. I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me. Scared of you, how you snap at me? Another message, I can't be attacked by you for doing a simple thing and being supportive. And another every five seconds I hear about how you let me know how unhappy you are with me. The relationship was three months old, and Reva was already documenting fear anger volatility. The warning signs were there. On February thirteenth, twenty thirteen, Riva wrapped a Valentine's gift for Oscar, went to bed at his house, excited to celebrate the day of love with her boyfriend. She never woke Upriva Steenkamp was twenty nine years old, law school graduate, model, advocate for domestic violence victims. The speech she was scheduled to give the morning of February fourteenth included these words, be brave, see the positive, make your voice heard. Her voice was silenced by four bullets through a bathroom door. Here's what Oscar Pistoria says happened. Around ten pm on February thirteenth, Oscar and Reva went to bed. Oscar arranged fans in the doorway to the balcony because the air conditioning wasn't working.

8:58 His gun, a nine millimeter pistol, was under the left side of the bed. His prosthetic legs were on the right side. Around three am, Oscar says he woke up, got out of bed on his stumps without his prosthetic legs, walked to the balcony to bring the fans inside. That's when he heard a noise coming from the bathroom the window. Someone was opening the window. Oscar says he was terrified an intruder in his home, and he was vulnerable, a man without legs, unable to run or fight effectively. He grabbed his gun from under the bed, moved down the hallway toward the bathroom, leaning against the wall for stability on his stumps. He screamed for the intruder to get out, screamed for Reva to call the police. He heard a noise from the toilet cubicle, a small enclosed room within the bathroom, the sound of wood moving. He thought the door was opening. Someone was about to come out and attack him, so he fired four shots through the locked door in rapid succession. Then Oscar says he retreated back to the bedroom, felt for Riva in the bed. She wasn't there. Checked the floor, the curtains, not there. That's when he realized the person in the bathroom might have been Riva. He ran back, tried the door, locked, put on his prosthetic legs, tried to kick the door down, couldn't got a cricket bat smashed through the door panel, reached inside, opened it, found Riva slumped over the toilet, bleeding, dying.

10:32 He carried her downstairs, called a neighbor at three eighteen am, called an ambulance at three twenty called security at three twenty one. Tried to keep her airway open with his fingers in her mouth, applied pressure to her wounds. By the time help arrived, Riva Steenkamp was dead. Three hollow point bullets had struck her right hip, right arm head. The head wound was fatal. That's Oscar's version, a terrible accident, a misunderstanding of the dark, the worst mistake of his life. Here's what the prosecution argued. Oscar and Reva had a fight that night, a loud argument. Neighbors reported hearing screaming a woman's voice before the gunshots. Reva fled to the bathroom, locked herself inside the toilet cubicle, brought her phone with her.

11:18 It was found in the bathroom. Why would an intruder bring a phone? Oscar, in a rage, fired through the door, knowing exactly who was on the other side, then broke down the door and watched her die. The evidence supported the prosecution's theory in key ways. Reva was fully clothed, not in pajamas, like she hadn't actually gone to bed or had gotten dressed to leave. Her phone was in the bathroom. Why would she take her phone if she was just using the toilet in the middle of the night. Neighbors heard screaming before the shots, a woman's voice terrified, then gunfire. The timeline didn't add up. Oscar said he screamed for Riva to call police, but he never actually checked if she was in bed before firing, never confirmed her location, just assumed the noise was an intruder and shot.

12:11 And the bullets hollow point expanding ammunition designed to cause maximum damage, not typical home defense rounds. These were bullets designed to kill. Four shots through a door at someone he claims he loved, without confirming who was on the other side. Even if you believe Oscar's version that he genuinely thought Riva was an intruder, you still have a man who fired four killing shots through a closed door at an unknown person. That's not self defense. That's reckless homicide. At minimum. The judge would eventually call his account improbable. But improbable isn't the same as impossible, And in South African law, reasonable doubt matters. We'll be right back with the trial that gripped the world and the verdict that kept changing. March third, twenty fourteen, the trial of Oscar Pistorius began in the High Court of South Africa in Pretoria, Judge Thokoziel Masipa presiding no jury. South Africa uses a judge system for serious crimes. The trial was broadcast live.

13:33 Every objection, every piece of evidence, every emotional breakdown from Oscar Pistorius, who sobbed repeatedly on the stand, vomited when autopsy photos were shown, seemed to perform grief for the cameras. Prosecutor Jerry Nell was relentless called Oscar's version a lie, pointed out every inconsistency, every impossibility. You will blame anybody but yourself, health Nell told Oscar during cross examination, you are lying. You just refused to take responsibility for anything. Oscar testified for days, maintained his story, said he'd never intentionally hurt Reva, said he loved her, said this was all a terrible mistake. But the text messages came out Reva's fear, Oscar's temper, the volatility of their three month relationship, and the neighbors testified they heard screaming a woman's voice before the shots. September twelfth, twenty fourteen, Judge Massipa delivered her verdict, not guilty of murder, guilty of culpable homicide, the South African equivalent of manslaughter. The courtroom gasped, the world was stunned. Oscar Pistorius had killed Reva Steenkamp and was only convicted of manslaughter. Judge Massipa explained the prosecution hadn't proven beyond reasonable doubt that Oscar intended to kill Reva, specifically, his version that he thought she was an intruder couldn't

15:04 be definitively disproven. The sentence five years in prison, five years for killing a woman, for firing four hollow point bullets through a door without confirming who was On the other side, Riva's mother, June, was devastated, the public was outraged, and prosecutors appealed. December third, twenty fifteen, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the culpable homicide conviction found Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder. The legal reasoning, even if Oscar believed he was shooting at an intruder, he foresaw that his actions would kill someone and proceeded anyway. That's called dolus eventualis intent to kill whoever was behind that door, regardless of identity. Oscar Pistorius was now a convicted murderer. July sixth, twenty sixteen, Judge Massipa sentenced him to six years in prison, called him a fallen hero who has lost his career and is ruined financially. Six years for murder. Prosecutors appealed again the sentence was too lenient. November twenty fourth, twenty seventeen, the Supreme Court of Appeal increased the sentence to thirteen years and five months, finally a sentence that reflected the severity of the crime. Oscar Pistorius would serve real time for killing Riva Steamcamp. He'd already served time on the culpable homicide conviction, some in prison, some under house arrest.

16:30 The new sentence meant he'd remain incarcerated until at least twenty twenty three, with the possibility of parole. January fifth, twenty twenty four, Oscar Pistorius was released on parole. He'd served eight and a half year's total half his sentence, the minimum required under South African law. He walked out of Aderageville Correctional Center and went to live with his uncle in Pretoria's upscale, watercloof suburb. Parole conditions no alcohol, anger management therapy, gender based violence counseling, cannot leave the Pretoria region without permission, must report regularly to parole officers. The conditions will remain in effect until December twenty twenty nine.

17:13 Oscar Pistorius is now thirty eight years old, and as of twenty twenty five, he's reportedly in a new relationship dating a management consultant named Rita Grayling, described as besotted with her, wants to have children. He's moved on building a new life while Reva Steencamp remains dead at twenty nine June. Steencamp has never believed Oscar's story not for a second. I do not believe Oscar's version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar, she said in a statement after his parole. In fact, I do not know anybody who does. When Oscar met with Riva's father, Barry, in prison in twenty twenty two, as part of South Africa's restorative justice process, Barry asked him to swear on the Bible that Riva's death was truly an accident. Oscar declined. Barry later said that refusal was proof of Oscar's guilt. Barry Steencamp died in September twenty twenty three at age eighty. His family said he died of a broken heart. June Steencamp has continued advocating against gender based violence through the Reva Rebecca Steencamp Foundation, trying to make her daughter's death mean something trying to protect other women. In her victim impact statement before Oscar's parole, June expressed doubt that he'd been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof. Nobody can claim to have remorse

18:44 if they are not able to engage fully with the truth. June suffered a life changing stroke in twenty twenty five. Friends and family fear she may never fully recover, may never remember her daughter Reva clearly again. Oscar Pistoria is building a new life with a new girlfriend. June Stemcamp is losing her memories of the daughter Oscar killed. Make it make sense. South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender based violence in the world. Women are murdered by intimate partners at epidemic levels. Revasteencamp, who advocated for victims of domestic violence, became a statistic herself. Her case forced South Africa to confront uncomfortable truths. The way male athletes are glorified, the violence that happens behind closed doors.

19:33 A justice system that seemed to treat Oscar Pistorius with kid gloves because of who he was. He served eight and a half years, less than a year for every stab wound he didn't inflict, because bullets do the work faster. Revasteamcamp would be forty two years old today, should be practicing law, should be helping domestic violence victims, should be living the life she'd worked so hard to build. Instead, She's been dead for almost thirteen years, killed on Valentine's Day by the man who claimed to love her. Rest in peace, Reva. Someone has to say your name, that's our Oscar Pistorius episode The Blade Runner, The Hero Who Became a Killer. February fourteenth, twenty thirteen, Valentine's Day. Four hollow point bullets through a bathroom door. Reva Steamcamp dead at twenty nine. Oscar claimed it was an accident, said he thought she was an intruder, but her phone was in the bathroom, she was fully clothed. Neighbors heard screaming.

20:35 The evidence pointed to a fight that turned fatal. First conviction culpable homicide, overturned on appeal. Second conviction murder, six years appealed, increased to thirteen years and five months served eight and a half released January twenty twenty four. Now living with family in Pretoria, new girlfriend, dreaming of children. Riva's father died of a broken heart. Her mother suffered a stroke. The family serves a life sentence of grief, while Oscar Pistorius moves on, Be brave, see the positive, make your voice heard. Those were Reva's words from the speech she never got to give the speech scheduled for the morning of February fourteenth, twenty thirteen, hours after Oscar silenced her voice. Forever Tomorrow Aaron Hernandez New Year's Day, the NFL star who went from super Bowl champion to convicted murderer. I'm read Carter, Happy New Year, Stay safe tonight, lock your doors, and remember you never really know what's happening behind closed doors. This is Celebrity Trials.