Oscar secrets judge didn’t hear

Published Oct 2, 2014

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Johannesburg - Oscar Pistorius’s brother Carl was allegedly on the police’s radar after they suspected he may have interfered with the investigation of Reeva Steenkamp’s death.

Eyewitness News (EWN) reported that for 12 days one of Pistorius’s cellphones was unaccounted for and that Carl may have synchronised the phone with his computer during this period.

This is one of the revelations made in a book, which hit the shelves on Thursday, about events leading up to the Valentine’s Day shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, the subsequent probe and Pistorius’s murder trial.

Titled Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story, the book is written by Eyewitness News (EWN) reporters Mandy Wiener and Barry Bateman.

EWN reported on Thursday that when they gained possession of the phone, investigators allegedly found the device had been synchronised with a computer identified as Titanium Hulk. This name, they reported, is used by Carl in his e-mail address and on social media.

“A full extract of the phone also reveals that the entire call history, WhatsApp record and certain messages had been deleted from the device, allegedly by Carl, while the device was in his possession in the days after the shooting,” EWN said, claiming he “narrowly” avoided prosecution for this.

 

Pistorius also allegedly spoke to his ex-girlfriend as he arrived home to Steenkamp.

EWN reported that Pistorius spoke to Jenna Edkins, who he dated in 2008, as he arrived at his Pretoria East estate at about 6pm on February 13.

EWN reported that they used cellphone service provider data obtained by police and then crosschecked the number of the person Pistorius had a conversation with against his contact list.

This person’s number was saved as “Babyshoes” and although the number was registered in the name of Edkins’s father, it is understood it is her number, EWN said.

EWN said Edkins declined to comment, but said she and Pistorius had remained friends.

The police, prosecution and defence declined to comment on both allegations, EWN reported.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Solomon Makgale did not respond to The Star’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Pistorius’s legal team sent out a pre-emptive statement late Wednesday night.

“We are not sure of the allegations which are to be made or the source of such allegations, but we are not aware of any deletions having been effected by Oscar or on his instructions that could be relevant to this trial or could have impacted on this trial,” they said.

They said, to their knowledge, all relevant communications were presented in court. “The relevance of the communications from Oscar’s phones, iPad and laptop was properly dealt with by the court and ultimately played no role in the matter, this having been found by the court.”

Independent criminal lawyer Cliff Alexander said it was unlikely these revelations would have any impact on the trial or potential appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

He said the SCA would ask three questions: why was this evidence not led during the trial, what was its truthfulness and relevance?

“Is it (the new allegations) materially relevant to the outcome of the trial? I don’t think so,” he said.

The Star

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