It has been a sad time in South Africa where the value of human life and the responsibility one has over his actions has been overshadowed by stardom. Earlier this month, Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter. As the verdict was read, the belief that celebrities are above the law held firmly in the minds of many. Pistorius was on trial for first degree murder for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a South African model.
He had shot her four times through her bathroom door. Pistorius’ claim to fame was his talented running abilities. Despite the fact that he is a double leg amputee, he still ran in the Olympics for South Africa and became quite famous in the process. However, he is also known to have a temper and has fired his gun in public on more than one occasion.
The evidence against him was overwhelming. Steenkamp was shot in the wrist, hip, elbow and head as she knelt down behind the bathroom door of her master bedroom. A bloody cricket bat was found next to her, but prosecutors could not prove if it was used on Steenkamp or, like Pistorius claims, used to break down the door. Security guards arrived at the scene, but Pistorius told them “everything was fine.” Soon a neighbor arrived at the scene and Pistorius then called his best friend. After that point, Pistorius finally called the police, unable to be understood through his crying.
There is no doubt in my mind that Pistorius killed Steenkamp. Pistorius told police that he thought a burglar was in the house and mistakenly shot Steenkamp. The only question that was up for debate was whether or not Pistorius knew he was shooting Steenkamp, or truly thought that there was a burglar.
During the trial, the jurors saw their icon, hero and Olympian Cinderella-story star and had to decide which story was true: the verdict supported by prosecutors and evidence that said that Pistorius, in the early morning of Feb. 14, knowingly shot his girlfriend in an act of rage or Pistorius’ claim that he believed an intruder was in the house and blindly fired four shots through a door, knowing his girlfriend was also somewhere in the house. The jurors who could not bear to believe that their star could be such a cold-hearted man chose to believe the latter. With this decision, the jury proved once again that to be above the law, one just has to be famous and successful.
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