Pistorius plans his own service for Steenkamp
Judge in ‘Blade Runner’ case suffers loss
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 26, (AP): Oscar Pistorius planned a personal memorial service on Tuesday for Reeva Steenkamp, the 29-year-old model he shot at his home on Valentine’s Day.
The evening service would be at the Pretoria home of his uncle Arnold, where the Olympic athlete has been staying since he was released on bail awaiting trial on a premeditated murder charge.
Pistorius’ reputation management firm said Pistorius had specifically requested the service “as he remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner Reeva,” whom he says he shot by accident assuming an intruder had entered his home on Feb 14.
“Oscar has asked for a private serv- ice with people who share his loss, including his family members who knew and loved Reeva as one of their own,” Vuma Reputation Management said in a statement.
Exactly a week ago, a memorial service was held for Steenkamp in the southern coast city of Port Elizabeth, where her body was cremated following a private service.
That same day, the bail hearing for Pistorius started in the nation’s capital Pretoria.
It was unclear exactly what Pistorius’ service would consist of or how many people would attend.
Prosecutors say the pair had an argument before Steenkamp was killed. Vuma said that Pistorius “continues to grieve” for her. Vuma spokeswoman Janice Hills would not give any further details about the ceremony, saying it is “a private matter for the family.”
Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair set bail for Pistorius at 1 million rand ($113,000). The 26-year-old track star was also ordered to hand over his passports, turn in any guns he owns and keep away from his upscale home in a gated community in Pretoria, the scene of the crime.
He cannot leave the district of Pretoria without his probation officer’s permission and is not allowed to consume drugs or alcohol.
Nair himself was in private mourning on Tuesday. He confirmed that he is related to a woman suspected of killing her two children and committing suicide on the weekend.
The revelation was the latest twist in the saga of Pistorius and prominent figures linked to the case against the double-amputee athlete.
The bodies of a woman and her two sons were found Sunday evening at their Johannesburg home by her exhusband, police Warrant Officer Balan Muthan said. Authorities suspect the woman administered a substance that killed her children, and took her own life by ingesting it as well.
The woman’s brother, Vishal Maharaj, identified her as Anusha Maharaj. Police said Maharaj was her family name before she married. South African media identified her as Anusha Mooljee.
Muthan said police suspect “she took her own life by ingesting a substance that killed her,” and that she “most probably” gave the same substance to her children. Autopsies were conducted Monday and toxicologists were analyzing the substance believed to have killed the three family members.
Suicide notes were found and a murder investigation was underway, Muthan said. He said copies of the notes were admitted as evidence in the probe and declined to comment on the contents.
Eyewitness News, a South African media outlet, said the boys who died were 12 and 17 years old and cited neighbor Claire Osment as saying she rushed outside after hearing screams coming from the townhouse where they lived.
“We asked what happened. The dad just said, ‘She has killed my boys.’ He was just crying,” Eyewitness News quoted her as saying. “He couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t believe that his sons are gone.”
Meanwhile, last week, the judge who granted bail to Oscar Pistorius was in the international spotlight, presiding over dramatic hearings in a courtroom as the Olympic athlete sat in the dock charged with murdering his girlfriend. This week, the judge is in private mourning.
Desmond Nair, chief magistrate of the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, confirmed Tuesday that he is related to a woman suspected of killing her two children and committing suicide on the weekend.