A bail hearing for “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius took a weird turn yesterday when it emerged that the lead investigator in the case, Hilton Botha, is himself facing attempted murder charges for a drunken shooting incident four years ago.
When Botha was on the stand, trying to make the case that Pistorius should not be released on bail because he posed a flight risk, attorneys for Pistorius poked holes in Botha’s testimony and the conduct of investigators. But this came after the bombshell revelation that Botha may be dropped from the case because of the 2009 incident.
According to police spokesman Neville Malila, Botha and several other police officers apparently fired at a minibus they were chasing in late 2009, Malila told CNN affiliate eNCA. He said they were allegedly drunk at the time. They were charged with seven counts of attempted murder — because there were seven people on the bus — and also charged with using firearms under the influence of alcohol.
On day three of Pistorius’ bail hearing in the murder of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, Botha was questioned by magistrate Desmond Nair about the testimony he had given in the hearing the day before.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux tore into Botha, citing “disastrous shortcomings in the state’s case.”
Botha was forced to admit that Pistorius’s version of events, in which he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, are consistent with the crime scene. He also admitted errors in the investigation, such as police not wearing protective covers on their shoes and missing a bullet that hit the toilet basin and which was only discovered four days later by the defense forensic team.
“I’m sure it could have been handled better,” Botha said from the witness stand.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Botha said a witness claimed to have heard shots fired, then screaming, and then more shots. But Botha had to change the distance this witness was from the scene, first saying more than 600 meters, then changing it to 300 meters.
But Botha held firm in his view that Pistorius knew his girlfriend was in the bathroom when he shot four times through the locked door.
Pistorius’s family issued a statement saying it was “satisfied” with the bail hearing, but “finds the contradictions in Botha’s testimony extremely concerning.”
Pistorius is claiming he confused Steenkamp for an intruder, but prosecutors are contending he shot her after an argument. Prosecutors want Pistorius denied bail, alleging he is a flight risk. In order to be granted bail, prosecutors say he must prove he is likely to be acquitted, which is a stringent standard.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that even if Pistorius thought he was shooting at a burglar, he had fired to kill, meaning he would at least be convicted of murder with direct intent.
