Court releases graphic pictures of Reeva Steenkamp’s body after Oscar Pistorius murder
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Court releases graphic pictures of Reeva Steenkamp’s body after Oscar Pistorius murder

A court today allowed for the release of graphic pictures of Reeva Steenkamp’s badly wounded body after she was murdered by Oscar Pistorius.

Reeva’s family urged the court to release the images of their daughter during a sentencing hearing in Pretoria today.

The model’s family bravely chose the images that showed the horrific impact of her injuries anxious to let people know what happened to their daughter the night she died, a source told the MailOnline.

We have chosen to show you some of the images, as per her family’s wishes, although others are too graphic to include.

The gold medal winner will be sentenced on July 6 once the judge has had an opportunity to weigh up the evidence. He faces a minimum prison sentence of 15 years.

Earlier today, Pistorius was seen walking on his stumps as part of the hearing to demonstrate his physical vulnerability to a judge who will decide his prison sentence for murdering his girlfriend.

The double-amputee removed his prosthetic limbs at the request of his lawyer Barry Roux who is pleading for leniency, but state prosecutor Gerrie Nel sought a minimum 15-year jail term for Pistorius for killing Reeva Steenkamp.

Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius walks across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs during the third day of the resentencing hearing for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at Pretoria High Court, South Africa June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Pistorius walked around the court on his stumps to prove his vulnerability (Picture: Reuters)

Wearing shorts, the Paralympic athlete held onto wooden benches for support as he limped through the courtroom, and appeared in distress as a cushion was provided for him to rest on.

Pistorius, 29, shot his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

Forensic scene photos of Reeva Steenkamp
Reeva’s family have agreed to the release of the images

‘It is three o’clock in the morning, it is dark, he is on his stumps,’ said Roux, whose client had both legs amputated below the knee as a child.

‘His balance is seriously compromised and… he would not be able to defend himself. He was anxious, he was frightened.

Forensic scene photos of Reeva Steenkamp

‘He believed the person in the toilet was an intruder and (the) deceased was at the time in the bed,’ Roux said.

In March, the Supreme Court of Appeal found Pistorius guilty of murder – irrespective of whoever was behind the door when he opened fire with a pistol he kept under his bed.

Forensic scene photos of Reeva Steenkamp
They show the extent of the injuries she received at the hands of Oscar Pistorius

Roux urged judge Thokozile Masipa to ‘entertain the correct facts and not to be drowned by the many perceptions’ that Pistorius had killed Steenkamp deliberately.

‘The accused has lost everything. He can never ever resume his career,’ Roux said.

‘He has paid physically… he has paid financially, he has paid socially. He is paying constantly.’-metro.co.uk

 

3 Comments

  • Passmore Chaka 18/06/2016

    And pple wanna sympathise with this murderer instead of feeling pity for the deceased and her family

  • gerro 19/06/2016

    Lock him up and throw away the keys..bloody MURDERER

  • Peter Dawson 20/06/2016

    I can never sympathise with OP and his situation and anyone who believes him innocent or that he needs sympathy has little understanding of the actual facts. Lets face it if he had been in an American court he would already been facing 30 years to life of hard labour.

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