Re your post above MrJitty I still think the question of why he snapped to that extent on that particular night is a valid one and I also maintain that it is a leap, and a large one, to murder in this particular case. I was not talking about DV in broad terms but in relation to the Oscar Pistorius case.
Yes there are many anecdotes about his temper but none relate to domestic violence. The closest, to my knowledge, is the slamming the door on the Cassidy girl at the party. And there was also Sam Taylor's evidence and Reeva's text messages but they relate to verbal rather than physical aggression. Nasty and unpleasant for sure but IMO a long way from shooting someone. Not everyone who is verbally abusive is physically so, even over the course of a long relationship. But, if you believe he shot her deliberately, as I do and think you do too, then something happened that night that led to that occurring. By no means as I suggesting any responsbility on the part of the victim but he had never shot anyone before, despite his love of guns and his known temper, but that night he did. 'Why?' is the only question I was posing.
I suppose my answer is there is no answer
Why did Nathan Mathews one day strangle his step sister Becky Watts to death and inflict brutal overkill?
He is an abusive man, and one day he lost control.
It is hard to analyse because the victim always holds a special significance for the murderer which cannot easily be translated into an understandable motive.
The other important consideration is we don't know what violence he inflicted on Reeva previously because she is dead.
In the case of Veitch for example, it only later emerged he had assaulted her at least half a dozen times previously - but we only found out about this because the victim lived to testify
It was apparent no one is Veitch's circle realised the extent of his abuse.
Reeva has already been in an abusive relationship - and this one was no different.
Sadly this cycle is what tends to happen.