It turns out the widely-covered story about Oscar Pistorius killing his girlfriend because he thought she was a burglar, is completely false. Not only that, but apparently there were ‘witnesses’ who heard screaming and shouting.

According to the BBC

Police say neighbours heard screaming and shouting around the time of the shooting, and that they had been called to investigate incidents of a domestic nature at the same house in the past.

SkyNews backed up this report and went further, with a quote from a police officer, confirming there were witnesses:

Brigadier Denise Beukes confirmed the couple were alone in the house at the time of the shooting and there was no sign of forced entry.

“I can’t confirm that it’s related to the person that’s arrested but I can confirm there has previously been incidents at the home of Mr Oscar Pistorius,” she said, saying that there were “allegations of a domestic nature”.

“There are witnesses and they have been interviewed this morning,” she said. “We are talking about neighbours and people that heard things earlier in the evening and when the shooting took place.”

The Sun have the same claims, and go further, citing a witness confirming there were shots, then silence, then more shots:

Cops raced to the South African’s house in Pretoria. They found his lover dead in a pool of blood and arrested him after recovering a 9mm handgun.

He was later charged with murder — and will appear in court today. One neighbour, whose doctor husband rushed to Pistorius’s house, told of hearing three shots, followed by ten minutes’ silence — then three more.

[more here]

Then regarding the widely-reported story about Pistorius thinking his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was a burglar – the cops say it’s absolute rubbish.

Skynews reports:

Initial reports in the South African media suggested Miss Steenkamp was apparently shot as she woke him, trying to surprise him on Valentine’s Day, and was mistaken for an intruder.

But police later said the shooting was being treated as a murder and that they were “very surprised” by those reports, which they said did not come from them.

This was further supported by the Telegraph:

“There was no sign of forced entry or persons who weren’t supposed to be there at this stage. There were only two people on the premises: the resident and the deceased.”

This all explains why the police jumped so quickly to charge Pistorius with murder. You have to be pretty confident to go that route, instead of manslaughter – especially so early in the investigation.