The family of slain model Reeva Steenkamp reacted today amid the fact that they will likely have to wait close to a year for the trail to determine if Oscar Pistorius killed her deliberately or due to believing an intruder had broken into the bathroom. Until then, Pistorius is free on bond but cannot travel.
While news cameras filmed the happiness in Pistorius family as the investigator was pulled off the case and Pistorius was granted bail, the reaction of Steenkamp’s family was reported Saturday.
Reeva’s uncle Mike Steenkamp told the Associated Press. “Everybody wants to jump up with joy. I think it was just done in the wrong context, completely.”
While not asserting that he believes Pistorius is necessarily guilty, Reeva Steenkamp’s father told a South African newspaper that if Pistorius is lying then he will have to “live with his conscience.”
After receiving flowers from Pistorius family, Reeva’s mother June Steenkamp told the Afrikaans-language Beeld, “Yes, but what does it mean? Nothing.” But she added, “They are not to blame.”
Another relative asked Pistorius through CNN why he would not have simply nudged her first in bed to tell her he thought there was an intruder, at which point he would have discovered she was not still in bed an may be the person locked in the bathroom.
Pistorius was in his uncle’s home in an affluent suburb of Pretoria on Saturday, after being released on bond. His charge for premeditated murder is scheduled for this summer, but most believe it will take at least until the end of the year before it comes to trial.
See the AP story here.
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