A phrase OP uses that I find suspect is when he prefaces his actions by saying "I would have ..."
Agreed
I noticed that too.
It is a sure sign he is not speaking from experiential memory.
Nel really did destroy him on X
A phrase OP uses that I find suspect is when he prefaces his actions by saying "I would have ..."
There's nothing suspect about "I think". But one that's not mentioned, and often used, is "to be honest", "in all honesty" and "I honestly ...."
These phrases are completely redundant when used by a person who is genuine and sincere. We expect them to be honest, and no one is questioning their honesty. I honestly thinkthat it's used as a meaningless filler.
However, in other circumstances, these "honesty" phrases are another red flag that may indicate lies.
I'm always saying 'to be honest' as well! :scared:.. I dunno why I say it, it's more just 'packing' to make a sentence sound less abrupt (or sommink, I don't know ...)
The bail statement was constructed days later with expert assistance and was 100% incorrect as to THE ONLY critical detail.
e.g. how was it that Reeva left the room without him knowing.
Then we saw the laughable idea presented in X that it was just something thrown together by his lawyers which he had no idea about.
ROFL
Those damn lawyers just sent and got the key details wrong and then I guess OP just swore to it without reading it! But it doesn't matter as its only a murder trial!
oh dear.
I have signed a statement before as a key police witness, not even for Court, and it took me days to prepare it, and I read it 10 times before signing and checked every fact.
And anyone who has worked as a lawyer knows how many drafts of these statements you go through working the angles.
So the idea that it was "broadly correct" is actually untrue because it is the key details that matter - not the broad lie.
Noticeably he left out all the key facts he would later rely on, and had to change the most important one of all.
He left out a few crucial details in that bail statement that he had to fix in his testimony eh. To me, a couple of key ones IIRC were that Reeva was asleep yet later she was awake and spoke to him, albeit briefly. Guess she had to be awake to make it to the toilet in such a short space of time by his version. The other was the contradiction from 'I went out on to the balcony' to him not actually leaving the room, the implication being that he would not have heard the window opening from the balcony. Other than that I can't think why he made that change as it would presumably be easier to not notice RS getting up had he been on the balcony rather than in the room.
BTW, I've been away for the last week and have enjoyed reading all the many interesting posts over the past seven days so a blanket 'thanks' to all. And of course like most of you here I am very pleased that the NPA have decided to appeal. Since I firmly believe he is a lying murderer I have no twinges of conscience in being pleased that he will have this to worry about during his (currently) short sentence.
Mr Fossil and others
I'm about 15 pages behind everyone else so sorry if this has already been posted.
This relates to the debate over the first set of sounds and whether more than four shots were fired that night.
I've just been listening to Nel's x of OP (10 April session 2). He is going over the tasha incident, then he moves on to ask OP about what state he carries his firearm in.
Nel: how do you carry your pistol?
OP: I carry my pistol in a holster...
Nel: And as far as the rounds are concerned?
OP: I carry my firearm with a full magazine, milady
Are we any closer to establishing how many rounds were left in the magazine after the shooting?
Hey guys... just a heads up that Transcendence is free to download today if you want to check it out![]()
http://juror13lw.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/transcendence/
He left out a few crucial details in that bail statement that he had to fix in his testimony eh. To me, a couple of key ones IIRC were that Reeva was asleep yet later she was awake and spoke to him, albeit briefly. Guess she had to be awake to make it to the toilet in such a short space of time by his version. The other was the contradiction from 'I went out on to the balcony' to him not actually leaving the room, the implication being that he would not have heard the window opening from the balcony. Other than that I can't think why he made that change as it would presumably be easier to not notice RS getting up had he been on the balcony rather than in the room.
BTW, I've been away for the last week and have enjoyed reading all the many interesting posts over the past seven days so a blanket 'thanks' to all. And of course like most of you here I am very pleased that the NPA have decided to appeal. Since I firmly believe he is a lying murderer I have no twinges of conscience in being pleased that he will have this to worry about during his (currently) short sentence.
I've been working on mine, too, although it won't be as forensic as yours : ). It's a development of the 'version' I posted a while ago, as told by OP himself. Sorry it's so long!I have been working on an analysis of OP's versions and the reasons for his changes, but it's very much a background task - each time I find a new anomaly I become sidetracked following up the implications. I'll put up a link to it when it has enough substance to make it worth reading.
It's always bothered me as to whether it would have been physically possible for OP to bring the larger fan in with it facing him and when it's still on.The issue with the balcony is more to do with not being able to hear a noise from the bathroom, I think.
If he went out into the balcony then he necessarily had to turn round and come back into the room. The first thing he would see doing that is the bed....and with the light from the balcony on, and the curtains parted enough for him to get through it would be literally impossible for him not to notice that the bed was empty.
He had to construct a narrative that had his back to the bed the whole time...going out onto the balcony then coming in again did not fit that. That's why it was changed, imo.
Thank you and well spotted. I needn't assume it any more. I'll add a reference to this in the 'Key questions' document.
As to the number of rounds, I only got as far as the post on page 43 e.g. there's at least 10 bullets left in the magazine out of a maximum of 17 and the spring coils suggest that might be all that are left.
He left out a few crucial details in that bail statement that he had to fix in his testimony eh. To me, a couple of key ones IIRC were that Reeva was asleep yet later she was awake and spoke to him, albeit briefly. Guess she had to be awake to make it to the toilet in such a short space of time by his version. The other was the contradiction from 'I went out on to the balcony' to him not actually leaving the room, the implication being that he would not have heard the window opening from the balcony. Other than that I can't think why he made that change as it would presumably be easier to not notice RS getting up had he been on the balcony rather than in the room.
BTW, I've been away for the last week and have enjoyed reading all the many interesting posts over the past seven days so a blanket 'thanks' to all. And of course like most of you here I am very pleased that the NPA have decided to appeal. Since I firmly believe he is a lying murderer I have no twinges of conscience in being pleased that he will have this to worry about during his (currently) short sentence.
I've been working on mine, too, although it won't be as forensic as yours : ). It's a development of the 'version' I posted a while ago, as told by OP himself. Sorry it's so long!
I wake up Reeva says ‘Can’t sleep, Baba?’ I don’t look at her but I see the shape of her legs under the duvet I get out of bed rubbing my face with my hands and go over to the balcony doors it’s a really hot night but I want to close the doors and curtains even thought the aircon isn't working because I’m terrified of intruders even though I was happy to go to sleep with the doors open and the bathroom window unlocked because Reeva would have fought off an intruder all by herself I bring in the two fans that are on the balcony except they are not on the balcony moving the large one by grabbing it from the front and backing into the bedroom so I don't look at the bed which is really awkward as the fan is still on especially as I can hardly stand on my stumps I close the doors and draw the curtains so the bedroom is pitch black I shuffle around the bed but not looking at it making sure I don’t trip over the fans, ipad, hair clippers, reeva’s jeans, my grey vest, the extension cord, the fans’ cables plugged into the extension cord (except one of them isn’t because there is no space for it) and the duvet that was on the bed except it was on the floor all the while being so unstable on my stumps that I can’t balance but I can run and walk backwards on them if forced to re-enact how I killed my girlfriend
I get to the hi fi and even though the room is pitch black there’s a little blue LED light that’s really going to annoy me when I get back into bed even though it doesn’t shed enough light for me to see anything in the bedroom and I've managed to sleep every other night with it on I could switch it off at the mains socket but I reckon it would be far better to cover it with the jeans that the ultra neat and tidy Reeva has dumped on the floor inside out on top of the duvet that's on the floor except it's on the bed then SLAM! I get a startle when I hear the bathroom window slide open and Reeva's jeans fall on the floor on top of the duvet that's on the bed...
Immediately concluding there’s an intruder in the bathroom not that it could be Reeva who I am sharing a bed with and who might have got up to go to the bathroom when I was bringing in the fans that weren’t outside and not looking at the bed where I fully expect Reeva to be even though she’s actually in the bathroom I move to the left hand side of the bed and get my 9mm out from underneath it without stopping to tell Reeva what I am doing even though she's only a foot away from me (except she's in the bathroom) or pressing the panic button that I have in case intruders try to get into my house or activating the alarm that I may or may not have set before I went to sleep to attract attention or getting away from the danger by leaving the bedroom or shouting for help from the balcony or waiting in the bedroom for the intruder to come down the corridor so I could ambush him I whisper to her in a soft voice to call the police but don't check she's heard me I can't balance on my stumps but I have mobility on them so I make my way down the corridor having armed myself and approached the danger without intending to kill anyone shouting at the intruder to get the F out of my house get the F out of my house Reeva call the police while keeping quiet so as not to give away my position and not wondering why Reeva hasn’t replied then SLAM! I get a second startle when the toilet door is shut!
I get to the entrance to the bathroom and see the window is open but I’m sure there aren’t any other intruders on the ladder that isn’t propped up against the outside wall then SCREECH! I hear a sound that gives me a third startle and makes me think someone is coming out of the toilet but will later believe sounded like the magazine rack moving I decide not to fire into the shower cubicle in case the round ricochets and hits me so I fire four shots accidentally BANG...BANG BANG BANG into the toilet door without thinking (even though I had the time to think I shouldn't fire into the shower cubicle) and without meaning to fire the shots but intending to fire the shots pausing after the first shot to aim at the person in the toilet even though I never intended to kill reeva or anyone else for that matter because if I had I would have aimed higher and not hearing if reeva screamed after the first shot because my ears were ringing and I didn't foresee that firing four shots at someone behind a wooden door in a tiny cubicle might conceivably result in death
I then move back along the corridor without bothering to check whether there are any other intruders on the ladder that isn’t propped up against the wall still with my 9mm in my hand I get to the bed and I’m surprised that Reeva isn’t still in it even though I've been shouting at her and an intruder and I've fired four shots so I roll over the bed to check if she’s behind the curtains but she’s not it’s a second opportunity to activate my panic button or set off my alarm but I don’t do that or check if Reeva has actually gone out of the bedroom without activating the alarm that I can’t remember if I set or not I run back to the bathroom on the stumps I can hardly balance on screaming like a woman in fear of her life except I'm actually a man who has just realised I might have shot my girlfriend which sounds exactly the same and while shouting like a man at the same time the toilet door is locked so I shoulder charge it even though it opens outwards I run back to the bedroom to go onto the balcony taking care not to trip over the fans, cables, clippers, jeans, vest, duvet and ipad even though it’s still pitch black and the fans are blocking my way i may have tripped over the cord of the smaller fan and pulled it out of the white extension cord that it wasn't plugged into but I can't remember I shout HELP HELP HELP then go back into the bedroom past the panic button and decide to put my prosthetics on taking time to put my socks on first because I don’t want my stumps to get sore I grab my cricket bat and go back to the bathroom still screaming bloodcurdling screams like a woman whose life is in danger even though I'm a man whose life is not in danger I put down my 9mm and hit the door BASH...BASH BASH BASH coincidentally in the exact same pattern as the shots I fired earlier and by bending over so that I hit it at a height that is consistent with my being on my stumps even though I’m wearing my prosthesis I stop screaming like a woman who is being murdered as soon as I hit the door for the last time and rip the door panels off then I see Reeva slumped over the toilet but I don't make a sound even though I can see I've shot her I reach in to pick up the key to unlock the door then I check Reeva she is breathing even though she’s dead
I sit there with her for a while I don't know for how long then I battle to get her out of the toilet taking care not to get any blood on the soles of my socks I call my friend stander to tell him what's happened and to ask him to call an ambulance because that is quicker than calling for an ambulance myself then I call netcare who tell me to take a woman who's been shot in the head to hospital I go downstairs to open the door but can't remember whether I deactivate the alarm that I can't remember if I set earlier I go back upstairs to pick reeva up and take her downstairs carisse and stander arrive and I put reeva down at the foot of the stairs I stick my fingers in her mouth to help her breath while obstructing her airway even though she's dead then a doctor arrives and I scream at him to save her but he does nothing to help her and even though I've told God I'll dedicate my life to him if he lets her live she dies in my arms even though she's already dead
So now I can see why Masipa believed his story was reasonably possibly true.
It's always bothered me as to whether it would have been physically possible for OP to bring the larger fan in with it facing him and when it's still on.
I've been working on mine, too, although it won't be as forensic as yours : ). It's a development of the 'version' I posted a while ago, as told by OP himself. Sorry it's so long!
I wake up Reeva says ‘Can’t sleep, Baba?’ I don’t look at her but I see the shape of her legs under the duvet I get out of bed rubbing my face with my hands and go over to the balcony doors it’s a really hot night but I want to close the doors and curtains even thought the aircon isn't working because I’m terrified of intruders even though I was happy to go to sleep with the doors open and the bathroom window unlocked because Reeva would have fought off an intruder all by herself I bring in the two fans that are on the balcony except they are not on the balcony moving the large one by grabbing it from the front and backing into the bedroom so I don't look at the bed which is really awkward as the fan is still on especially as I can hardly stand on my stumps I close the doors and draw the curtains so the bedroom is pitch black I shuffle around the bed but not looking at it making sure I don’t trip over the fans, ipad, hair clippers, reeva’s jeans, my grey vest, the extension cord, the fans’ cables plugged into the extension cord (except one of them isn’t because there is no space for it) and the duvet that was on the bed except it was on the floor all the while being so unstable on my stumps that I can’t balance but I can run and walk backwards on them if forced to re-enact how I killed my girlfriend
RSBM
So now I can see why Masipa believed his story was reasonably possibly true.
It's physically possible, I think, but it would not have been an easy thing to do because the extension plug would have moved at the same time, plus he'd have been stepping over the iPad, it's cover, the clippers and various leads....all in the pitch black on his stumps.
And what exactly did he do?
Move the fans to their position at the end of the bed, then go back to close the blinds, door and curtains...or move them into the room, close the blinds, door and curtains then take them to the end of the bed?
Did he carry them both at the same time, or position one and then go back for the other?
And more than this....why move them at all? You are not going to get move benefit from them at the end of the bed than from the side. Seems an awful lot of trouble to go to at 3am with no particular benefit.
Tis all a load of rubbish, IMO.