No one is going to pretend prison will be a free ride for Oscar Pistorius, but it turns out someone might be determined to make it even less pleasant.

Following another round of court appearances, including the moment Oscar walked on his stumps (HERE), you may have thought the drama was over.

Not the case though, because the Pistorius family has now laid criminal charges against a man who sent them threatening WhatsApp messages.

Oscar’s cousin Arnoldus Kurt Pistorius was the man on the receiving end, with this below from News24:

…Arnoldus said that on Thursday he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. The sender asked him to verify if he was Pistorius’ cousin, which he did. The person then claimed to have evidence that state prosecutor Gerrie Nel had paid a prison nurse to lie in court.

City Press understands he allegedly proposed that the information be used to weaken the state’s case against Oscar and to discredit the testimony that Kgosi Mampuru II correctional services assistant health manager and professional nurse Charlotte Mashobane had given.

Mashobane’s testimony painted Oscar as a person who had anger issues, which served as evidence in aggravation of his pending murder sentence.

Arnoldus said that he did not respond to the phone messages as he suspected that the sender wanted money in exchange for the alleged evidence against Nel…

Arnoldus told City Press on Friday that when the suspect realised he was not interested, he started making threats, including that Oscar would be gang raped on his return to jail.

One message read: “You don’t need my help ‘jou ma se xxx’: … when Oscar returns to jail I will ensure that he is gang raped also he will suffer and I will have my man beat him properly. Your children will be murdered as well … you will ruin your nephew [the criminal thought he was talking to Oscar’s uncle Arnold].”

Arnoldus added that he and his cousins had been getting death threats, and the family had increased security at home.

Here’s the kicker – when the same number was tried later in the week the man stuck to his guns:

…the man refused to identify himself but confirmed having contacted Arnoldus.

He denied having made death threats.

“I have recordings and evidence that can prove that the prison nurse was paid and that the deceased’s family (the Steenkamps) made threats to Oscar. I was in court this week and overheard them make threats against Oscar,” he said.

When pressed to share the information, the man, who claimed to be a businessman, said he would charge R5 000 for the information. He immediately demanded 30% of the money upfront and 70% when the job was done.

He also sent City Press a WhatsApp message, saying: “I have all stuff from a source at NPA.” When told that City Press did not pay for information, he refused to provide the recordings or engage any further.

If Marius Fransman can teach this mystery man one thing it should be that WhatsApp messages have a way of coming back to haunt you in the end.

According to police, the investigation into the alleged rape threats is still underway.

[source:news24]