It's my belief that Oscar has, since childhood, gone into these frightening rages, which, IMO, were anticipated by his family by the jaw clenching, head in hands, face turning exceedingly red...
They learned to soothe him by this head in lap, hair stroking, coddling/petting routine.
His aunt is doing it now after it was clear he was agitated today. Did I read that his psychiatrist pets him when he's 'upset' as well? (minus head-in-lap, I'm hoping.)
It's a pattern. When he's upset, he's stroked and petted in order to 'calm him down'. This can't be a coincidence that this grown man, much to most of our horror, gets petted as most of us have not petted out children since they were very young.
Quiet the coincidence that the seemingly loving thing Oscar described on the night of the 13th--Oscar with his head in Reeva's lap, Reeva stroking his hair--is the same thing odd thing everyone else seems to be trained to do to keep Oscar from exploding into full blown upset/rage.
BBM
Very astute observation, Magdalyn! I wholeheartedly agree.
Based on text messages, OP was clearly upset about something that evening. During direct examination, he testified about a financial meeting.
Reeva had tried to console him via text, also asking/urging him to spend the evening with his family. This tells me it was something very important if she felt he needed the support of his family.
Reeva was on her way home, but something OP said to her compelled her to turn around and return to OP's house, even though she hadn't planned on staying the evening, let alone the night. Reeva had her own plans for the following day - she was scheduled to give her DV speech, thus staying in Pretoria was not convenient to that appointment. Yet, she put OP's needs first and made herself available to him.
Remember during testimony, OP repeatedly referred to the time of "the incident" as the "evening", when it was actually the early morning hours. I agree with others' speculation that the "incident' which culminated in OP shooting & killing Reeva actually began earlier that night.
Now add OP's head in lap (actually head on handbag, but close enough) behavior in court, being stroked & soothed in order to calm him down, together with his own testimony about his head being in Reeva's lap/on her stomach that night - it could definitely be interpreted that she was trying to calm/soothe him.
I wonder what the "hurdle" was that OP & Reeva discussed? If it was finance related, I wonder if it had to do with the lawsuit we've read about, or ST's tell-all that was later dropped, or if it was related to a potentially lucrative sponsorship deal that fell through?
At any rate, it's a fact that OP has always been very concerned with his public image and how any negative press would affect his contracts (income).
IMO, OP was inconsolable that night (due to whatever news he'd received earlier), despite Reeva's best efforts. She made him tea, she cooked him dinner, she likely stroked and soothed him while his head was resting on her stomach. I think she was being very motherly to him that night - even called him to come to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
But his stress would not be pacified. I think he grew more upset as the night wore on, because I think whatever happened in that earlier financial meeting that Reeva referred to as a "hurdle" was eating away at him and causing him intense anxiety.
It's possible that the more Reeva tried to encourage and comfort him, the more agitated he became - especially since her career was taking off and filled with promise and he was facing some sort of "hurdle".
I have no doubt that at some point late that night/early morning OP exploded in a rage, as his frustration and anger intensified, despite Reeva's efforts to calm him.
As he has done in the witness box (blaming anyone & everyone for his actions), I think he began to berate & blame Reeva (unjustifiably) for something she may have said or done. An argument ensued; the argument escalated, and Reeva fled to the toilet in terror to try to escape his rage.
This is my theory about what happened that night.
I'll post it in the theory thread, but I also wanted to post it here, in response to Magdalyn's post above.