One Tragic Night

by Mandy Wiener

  Oscar pointed to the photograph. To assist him, a red ring was moved on to the image on the flat screen monitors to show where he was pointing.

  There was no light in the bathroom. I could see, as I slowly peered into the bathroom, I could see that the window was opened indeed. I was pretty much on my … back against the wall with my hand up against the wall to just balance. I was leaning with my back, slowly scuffling along the left hand side wall. I was not sure if there were people, or intruders were in the toilet or if they were on a ladder that they would have used to gain access to the first floor, or if they were around the corner at that point. I still had my firearm pointed in front of me and I peered around the corner to look where the shower was, which was around in the bathroom, in line with … in line with the toilet.

  I peered around this corner, which is in the bottom right hand side of the frame. At that point I saw that there was no one in the bathroom. The door was closed of the toilet and the window was open. Once I saw that there was not anybody around the corner wanting to attack me, I retreated a little bit, maybe a step or two back, still with my hand against the wall. I still had my back and my shoulder to help me balance. At this point I started screaming again for Reeva to phone the police.

  His testimony was reaching a crescendo and, as he continued, Oscar became increasingly emotional. Reeva’s mother, who had earlier leaned forward and bent her head down, her right hand covering her face, now stared directly at him. A small black-and-white portrait photograph of Reeva was pinned to the lapel of her white jacket.

  A few seats away, Oscar’s sister Aimee quietly cried, desperation etched on her face. She wiped away tears as her brother continued, his voice increasing in pitch and thick with emotion.

  I was not sure where to point the firearm. I had it pointed at the toilet but my eyes were going between the window and the toilet. I stood there for some time, I am not sure how long. I was not sure if someone was going to come out of the toilet to attack me. I was not sure if someone was going to come up the ladder and point a firearm in the house and start shooting, so I just stayed where I was and kept on screaming … and then I heard a noise from inside the toilet what I perceived to be somebody coming out of the toilet. Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door … My ears were ringing.

  I could not hear anything, so I shouted, I kept on shouting for Reeva to phone the police. I was still scared to retreat because I was not sure if there was somebody on the ladder. I was not sure if there was somebody in the toilet … [Pause] … I do not know.

  Oscar worked to regain his composure. Roux stood upright with his head intently forward. He asked no questions, but allowed the extended silence to prompt the accused to continue telling his story.

  I do not know how long [I] stood there for. I shouted for Reeva. At some point I decided to walk back to the room because I could not hear anything, my ears were ringing, I could not hear if there was a response or not. I did not have a phone on me. I walked … I walked with my hand out on the left hand cupboards with my pistol still raised. I kept on shouting for Reeva. I did not hear anything. At this point it had not occurred to me yet that it could be Reeva in the bathroom. I still thought that there would be intruders that were possibly in the toilet or on the ladder outside the house. I retreated back to a point where I got to the corner of the bed, with my hand out on the bed and I tried to lift myself up. I was talking to Reeva. There was nobody, no one responded to me. At that point I lifted myself up onto the bed and I placed my hand back to the right hand side of the bed and I looked, I felt if Reeva was there and I could not feel anything and at that point the first thing I thought was maybe that she had got down onto the floor like I told her to, maybe she was just scared.

  Speaking at an accelerated pace and with his voice again breaking, Oscar finally gave his account of the moment reality first hit.

  So I said … I cannot remember what I said, I was trying to talk out to her and I kept my firearm the whole time I moved along the bed backwards, I kept my firearm at the passage, there was not much light coming out but I did not want to even keep my … take my eyes off the … off the … where the closet was. I then … I think it was at that point, M’Lady, that the … that it first dawned upon me that it could be Reeva that was in the … in the bathroom or in the toilet.

  I jumped out off the other side of the bed and I ran my hand along the curtains to see that she was not hiding behind the curtain. I could not see much in the room but I could see where the passage was and I … I … I felt around and made my way back up the passage, I still had my firearm in front of me. At this point I was mixed with emotions. I did not know if … I did not want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilet. I was still scared that maybe somebody was coming in to attack me, or us. I made my way back to … inside the, inside the bathroom and I walked up to the, up to the bathroom door. I tried to grab the handle and rip open the door, I pushed the door open and it was locked. I then took … for the first time I turned around, with my back facing the bathroom I ran back to the room. I opened the curtains. I shouted from the balcony. I opened the doors and I shouted from the balcony for help. I screamed: ‘Help! Help! Help!’ I screamed for somebody to help me and then …

  Oscar sobbed as he gave his version and then paused for some time.

  I … I put my prosthetic … I put my prosthetic legs on. I ran as fast as I could back to the bathroom. I ran into the door. It did not move at all. I leant back and I tried to kick the door and nothing happened. I was … I was … just panicked at this point, I did not really know what to make or what to do. I ran back to the bedroom where the cricket bat was between the cabinet and the door.

  With Oscar deeply emotional, Roux stepped in to guide him along. ‘Were you screaming at that stage?’ asked the defence counsel.

  I was screaming and shouting the whole time and crying out. I was … I do not think I can … I do not think I have ever screamed like that or cried like that or screamed or … I was crying out for the Lord to help me. I was crying out for Reeva. I was screaming … [Pause] … I … I did not know what to do. I ran back to … I ran straight back to the bathroom door and I placed my fire … I do not remember but I must have placed my firearm on the carpet in the bathroom.

  ‘Do you know if the light was on or off at that stage in the bathroom?’ Roux prompted again.

  The light was on at that stage, M’Lady. I do not remember switching it on. I remember it being on when I kicked the door. I ran straight up to the door and I started hitting it. I think I hit it three times. The first time I hit it I remember hitting, I hit the frame of the door and the shock in my hands and I swung again. There was a small piece open and at that point all I wanted to do was just look inside to see if it was Reeva. I then … I then hit the door. I think I hit the door three times and there was a big plank, I grabbed it with my hands and I threw it out into the bathroom. I leant over the middle partition. I tried to open the door from the inside but there was no key in the door and I leant over the middle partition of the door and I saw the key was on the floor. At that point all I wanted to do was just climb into the toilet over the middle part of the door. Whilst I leant over the partition to get in, I saw the key, so I took it and I unlocked the door and I flung the door open and I threw it open and I sat over Reeva and I cried and I do not know …

  By this point Oscar was hysterical and began to heave, sobbing uncontrollably. His family, particularly Aimee, were equally emotional in the gallery. His uncle Arnold later said this was the first time they had heard the entire version of events, from start to finish, because every time Oscar tried to recall what had happened he would break down. On the Steenkamp side of the courtroom, the model’s friend Gina Myers battled to contain her emotions as her best friend’s boyfriend described finding her bloodied body inside the cubicle. Reeva’s mother, however, maintained her steady glare at the witness.

  I do not know how long … I do not know how long I was there for. She was
n’t breathing!

  Before Oscar had finished talking, Judge Masipa had dropped her pen and looked over at Roux, as if to prompt him to request for an adjournment. As she left the room, Oscar’s sobs followed her. As court decorum dictates, he had to stand as she left. And he did, his chin on his chest as if trying to escape the gaze of the public gallery, grimacing and heaving as he kept in his emotions. With Masipa gone, he turned his back to the room, letting out sorrowful wailing. Aimee and Carl rushed to his side.

  An uneasy silence fell over the courtroom and there was none of the usual conversation that quickly picked up in the gallery. We had witnessed the very personal and intense emotional collapse of a global icon, and there wasn’t much to say. The sincerity of Oscar’s grief was tangible and made indelible impressions on many inside the courtroom.

  He was so distraught that his advocate asked for a postponement. Oscar returned to the stand the following morning and continued where he had left off.

  M’Lady, after I entered the toilet I knelt down over Reeva. She was sitting with her weight on top of the toilet bowl. I checked to see if she was breathing and she was not and I put my arms underneath her shoulders and I pulled her weight onto me and I sat there, crying for a … for some time. I had her … I had her head on my left shoulder and I could … I could feel the blood was running down on me. At a point she … I heard her breathing so I immediately put her weight on top of me and I swivelled around. I sat back with my … with my bum against the floor and my back up against the wall, where the door is on the left hand side of the door and I pulled her weight on me, and I turned around. So that I could get her to the … to the door of the toilet so that I could pick her up. I could see that her arm was … I could see that her arm was broken. I placed her in the … I could not pick her up, but I was kind of … I was on my knees and on one of my feet and I was pulling her into the bathroom. I placed her down and I pulled one of the bathroom carpets closer and I placed her head down softly on the carpet. I saw that her cellphone was in the toilet, so I grabbed her cellphone and I tried to phone off it, but it had a pass code on it that I could not access. I ran back to my bedroom, where my phone was. Next to the left hand side of the bed and … both my phones were there. I picked them up and I ran back to Reeva. I then phoned Mr Stander … Mr Johan Stander, who is a gentleman who lived in the estates. Somebody that I become a friend with. I phoned him, to ask him for help, to help me … come and help. I could not pick Reeva up. I was struggling to pick her up.

  Phone records reveal that this call was made at 3:19:03.

  I was trying to pick Reeva up but I could not. I could not pick her up. I was scared that I hurt her more, so I put her on … I pulled her over onto … onto [my] body and I was trying to pick her up.

  Roux interrupted his client to point out that the next phone calls were at 3:20:05 to Netcare 911 and at 3:21:33 to security.

  I did not really know what to do. I could see that she was breathing. She was struggling to breath[e] … [crying] … I phoned … I phoned 911, Netcare 911. I do not recall speaking to the operator, but I remember him telling me that I needed to get Reeva to the hospital, that I must not wait for him.

  I do not remember phoning the security though, but from the phone records, I see that there was a call made from my cell phone to the security. The … after I got off the phone with the … with the Netcare 911 call centre, I ran down downstairs to open the front door. I could barely pick Reeva up, I would not have been able to open the door and carry her. So I ran, I open my bedroom door and I open the front door. I then ran back up to my room and on the way into my room I tried to force the door open. There is … there is two … two doors to my bedroom, M’Lady. The one I use, just locks with a key and then the other one, has got a latch at the top and at the bottom. So I ran into the door and it did not break open and I unlatched the bottom latch and when I unlatch the bottom latch, the door opened. The house … all the doors at the bottom of the house, and much of the doors at the top are double doors. The one door is open, you can walk through it. I have got the doors made so that the house is wheelchair friendly, so the … if you want to have a wider passage, you have to open both the doors.

  Oscar rushed back upstairs into the bathroom, picked Reeva up and carried her down the stairs. It was at this point that Johan Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen arrived.

  I do not recall carrying her some of the way, but I remember getting to the second flight of stairs and Mr Stander and his daughter Ms Stander [Carice Viljoen] arrived. At that point, I was shouting and screaming for him to help me get her to the hospital. When I got down to the bottom of the flight of stairs, either Mr Stander or Carice Stander told me to put Reeva down. They said: That the ambulance was on its way. Before I put her down, I said to them: That we need to get to the hospital … we need to get to the hospital. They said: Just put her down, the ambulance is on its way. And then, I just sat there with her and I waited for the ambulance to arrive and … I felt helpless. I wanted to take her to the hospital and it was … I had my fingers in her mouth to help her try breath[e]. I had my hand on her hip, I was trying to stop the bleeding.

  Oscar breathed deeply and audibly and then explained how they tried to stop the bleeding with towels and black bags.

  I was trying to hold Reeva’s hip with my hand to put pressure on it so that … so that it stop bleeding as much. Ms Stander asked me if I had any tape or any rope or anything like that, so the she could … so that she could tie on Reevas … tie her arms in order not to bleed as much. I do not remember … I do not remember if I went to collect the … the … there is a cabinet in my pantry, that has got all the type of utility things one would use in a house, like tape and bags and things. I do not know if I went and fetch them or if Ms Stander went and fetch them.

  Advocate Roux proceeded to lead Oscar through the next few moments as he remembered them, crying throughout his testimony.

  ‘Did the paramedics arrive at the scene? Or first Dr Stipp?’ asked Roux.

  There was a … there was a person that arrived at the house. Carice came in and she said to me that there is a Doctor and I immediately felt relieved. I looked up and I saw a person walking into my house. He was later … I later found out it was Doctor Stipp. I still do not remember his face or what he looked like. Once he came into the house, I remember me crying for him to help me, to help Reeva. He did not seem like he knew what he was doing. He did not seem like he … he seemed to be overwhelmed by the … by the situation. Everything he told me to do, I was already doing. I was already trying to stop the bleeding, I was already trying help Reeva breath[e]. He kneeled down on her … on her right hand side for a couple of minutes I think and then … I do not remember seeing him again. He walked outside and he was outside. I was shouting for him to come back into the house and help me. But … the paramedics then arrived. They asked for some space to work, so I stood up.

  ‘Did you still remain there or did you go somewhere else? Can you remember going to the kitchen?’ enquired Roux. Oscar’s answer followed a long pause.

  Reeva … Reeva had already died whilst I was holding her. Before the ambulance arrived, so I knew there was nothing that they could do for her.

  ‘Did you at some stage go to the kitchen?’ Roux tried again.

  I am … I stood back when they arrived and I stood a couple of metres away from them. It is a open plan home so I stood at the … couple of metres away, where the dining room and the kitchen kind of meet and then the lady paramedic came to me and she said to me: That she would like to inform me that Reeva has passed. The paramedic asked me for identification, if there was some form of ID. So I went and I got Reeva’s handbag in my … it was in my … in my bedroom. I did not go through her handbag I just simply picked it up, walked into the room and got her handbag and brought it out. Ms Stander was waiting there on the first floor outside my room and I gave her … I gave the handbag to her. I then went with Ms Stander downstairs to … where the paramedics were. I sa
t in the kitchen on the floor, crying. Against the … there [is] a island in the kitchen, serving counter and I sat there and then I do not know how much time passed. But at that point a police, or some police officers arrive shortly thereafter.

  ‘Do you know who it was?’ Roux pressed.

  There were two officers. They were not dressed in police clothing. They were dressed in civilian clothing. I think the one officer had shorts on and the other one … the were just both casually dressed and then, it was Colonel Van Rensburg who arrived, I think at more or less the same time. He came up to me and he introduced himself. I was at that point unable to speak with him. I was just sitting on the floor crying. Some time had passed then he … a police officer asked me to just stay in the kitchen. I saw the one police officer was standing nearby at the bottom of the stairs. Another police officer asked me if there was anybody else in the house and I just motioned to him that there was not. He proceeded to check the bottom of the home. He then went upstairs and then he came downstairs. I did not have my head up much and I was not in sight of the staircase but at times I could not sit.

  With Reeva dead, Oscar remained in the kitchen, throwing up from time to time, as more people arrived on the scene.