Happy New Year to everyone... I am still quite the newbie here on WS but occasionally feel compelled to post when something is bugging the hell out of me. Just read this piece in The Guardian from a couple of days ago and it made me wonder why we never heard (and why Nel never asked) more about the meeting Oscar had earlier on February 13th-- this is the meeting in which he apparently received some bad news and I believe it was in a 'What's App' message that Reeva tried to console him and reassure him what a great guy he really was and asked him if he might prefer to spend time with his family instead of coming home to her that evening.
It would seem to be so critical to his state of mind and could have easily been a contributing factor to his level of stress and tension that evening. Does anyone know any actual details about that meeting? Was there some reason Nel was not allowed to question Oscar or another potential witness about it?
<respectfully snipped>
See what you make of this statement from The Guardian article about Jaco van Vuuren, the pole vaulter acquaintance of Oscar's who is also an amateur courtroom artist:
Van Vuuren believes the Olympic runner’s version of events, but adds a new, intriguing twist. “The one thing’s that not mentioned in court, and we still don’t know why it’s not been brought up: he was as nervous as hell a week before that happened. He was on the track and I heard this from another Olympian who trained with him. He was as nervous as hell as if something was bound to happen.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/31/pistorius-track-mate-drawing-court-van-vuuren
Can't help but think Oscar might have been nervous about receiving bad news at this meeting on the 13th-- why don't we know the specifics of that meeting?
IMO Van Vuuren's comment may add another significant piece to the puzzle: OP's character already simmering with rage, much of it barely organized and discharged into his sport, discharged into his rifle range activities, etc. However, he may have been unable to contain his simmering rage, demonstrated by public exhibition(s) of acting-out in a threatening and dangerous manner with a gun, etc. It was escalating being recently magnified by the unresolved break-up with previous girlfriend; pressures to train, unsure if he would qualify to compete at Olympics again. Speaking hypothetically, he may have been unable to organize this escalating rage into his usual coping mechanisms. Van Vuuren's comments seem significant in this context. His comments echo previous comments made in earlier threads. It seems there was a 'trigger' factor and we know OP had received 'bad news' at an earlier meeting on the 13th - not an insignificant point. This 'bad news' may have generated enormous rage which he was unable to 'organize' into words or 'contain' with his usual coping mechanisms. It would have preoccupied him IMO. It needed to be 'discharged' for him to get relief from the ever present tension. Somehow, unknown to us, his rage was triggered with RS that night, he couldn't contain it, he was cognizant enough to walk to, then reach for his gun, then preempt ricochet bullets before 'discharging' the gun - four times into a small toilet cubicle with a human being inside. RS was not his problem, his rage was. The family, friends and/or team around OP were seemingly oblivious/unaware or unable to help him 'contain' his growing rage. He had a history of poorly controlled negative emotions such as anger/aggression. My opinion only.