Pistorius Oscar - The wrongful conviction of Oscar Pistorius: science transforms our comprehension of Reeva Steenkamps shocking death

The
Wrongful Conviction
of Oscar Pistorius

Science Transforms
our Comprehension
of Reeva Steenkamps
Shocking Death

Brent Willock, Ph.D.

Durham, NC

Copyright 2018 Brent Willock

The Wrongful Conviction of Oscar Pistorius: Science Transforms our Comprehension of Reeva Steenkamps Shocking Death

Published 2018, by Torchflame Books
an Imprint of Light Messages

www.lightmessages.com

Durham, NC 27713 USA

SAN: 920-9298

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61153-267-8

E-book ISBN: 978-1-61153-268-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938633

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without the prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover photo by Gallo Images, City Press, Herman Verwey, and Lwp Kommunikci, by Creative Commons License 2.0.

The photographs on pages 9, 12 and 138 are reproduced with permission of the owners listed under each image by Creative Commons License 2.0.

The photograph on page 13 by Liza van Deventer is licensed from Getty Images.

Praise for this Book from Leading Authorities in the Scientific and Forensic Fields

This book is a murder mystery but not a who done it? We know who fired the shots through the door of the toilet room killing Reeva, the girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius. He had been asleep next to her when he was awakened by a noise he thought was due to one or more intruders. He ran to the bathroom calling to Reeva to phone the police and shouting to the intruder(s) to get out of his house. Neither she nor they responded. After being frozen in fear he shot through the locked door and then discovered Reeva close to death. From here on the story is a detailed analysis of the legal procedures, the misunderstandings of the state of mind of the accused: was he fully conscious and so responsible for murder? The author, Brent Willock, is highly informed to make a compelling case that Oscar was not fully conscious, therefore not responsible, and to address the other possible states of mind Oscar may have gone through during and following this tragic event. The book sums up the pressing need for lawyers, judges and jurors to become familiar with the unconscious mind of sleep that does not obey the logic of the mind fully awake.

Rosalind Cartwright, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman Emerita, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Director, Sleep Disorder Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. Author, The Twenty-four Hour Mind: the role of sleep and dreaming in our emotional lives (Oxford University Press).

This well-researched, scientifically accurate, and nicely written book by Dr. Willock invokes an alternative explanation for Oscar Pistorius behaviors on February 14, 2013, namely that the tragic event could be well-explained by a parasomnia (confusional arousal/sleepwalking). Such conditions are a reminder that wake and sleep are not mutually exclusive, but rather may co-exist simultaneously: part of the brain capable of producing complex behaviors is awake, while parts responsible for monitoring and laying down memories of such behaviors are asleep permitting behavior without conscious awareness and therefore without culpability. Furthermore, during these states of mixed wake and sleep, there may be impaired perception of the environment with diminished insight, judgement, and reasoning resulting in flawed recall of details of these events which may appear unrealistic, puzzling, confusing, contradictory, unreasonable, or irrational. This scientifically-based concept should be valuable to all parties (perpetrator, victim, prosecution, and defense) in future similar cases.

Mark W. Mahowald, MD, Professor of Neurology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Retired)

Michel A. Cramer Bornemann, MD, D-ABSM, FAASM, Lead InvestigatorSleep Forensics Associates (SFA)

Dedicated to

Wenchang Wang ( ), also known as Wenchang Dijun ( )

Taoist God of Culture and Literature

***

Ganesha & Saraswati

Hindu patron deities of writers

***

The Muses

Greek inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts

***

And all others who inspire us to put pen to paper in hopes of contributing to the evolution of human understanding

Acknowledgements

I approached three of the most eminent persons in the scientific field from which I draw in this book to see if they might be interested in reading my manuscript. Not only are they highly accomplished scientists-clinicians but they are also leading forensic authorities in this area. They have provided expert opinions to many courts in similarly complex cases. Apart from my familiarity with their enormous contributions to the scientific, professional, and forensic literatures, I have never met any of these individuals. They do not know me. I was delighted to discover that they were all very interested in the project I had outlined to them. Despite their extremely busy schedules, they were eager to read the manuscript and, ultimately, to generously endorse it. For their marvellous support, I am extremely grateful. I extend my profound thanks to Dr. Michel Cramer Bornemann, Dr. Mark Mahowald, and Dr. Rosalind Cartwright.

The fine cover photograph of Oscar Pistorius at his bail hearing in the Pretoria Magistrate Court on February 20, 2013 was taken by Herman Verwey who is associated with Gallo Images and City Press. This photograph is reprinted courtesy of Creative Commons and Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Many thanks to Elizabeth Turnbull, Senior Editor at Light Messages Publishing, for creating a superb book cover in relation to the preceding photograph.

I am grateful to Creative Commons and to all the photographers who have given their pictures to the Commons, permitting them to be utilized by those of us who work in words, images, and ideas. I am especially thankful to Elvar P lsson, Michael Greenwood, and Frennie Shivambu whose photographs I have reprinted in this book. I believe their works truly are worth a thousand words.

It has been a great pleasure to collaborate closely with my publisher, Walter Turnbull, over the past many months. He is an outstanding exemplar of the enormous cultural value, creativity, and resourcefulness of small, independent book publishers. He (and they) have and continue to enrich our literary landscape enormously.

Finally I want to thank my many friends, family members, and colleagues for their ongoing support of this endeavor. Here I can only mention a few who were especially helpful and encouraging: Liz Chin-Sam; Bob, Sherrill, and Graham Willard; Edward Davidson; Robert Halpin; Laura Bass; Denise Bukowski; Hazel Ipp; Marilyn Willock; Mark Egit; Keith Haartman; Judi Kubrick; Florence Loh; and Dagnija Tenne. My heartfelt gratitude to you all!

PART I
Inauspicious Beginnings, Glorious Middle, and Then

Chapter 1

Who Is Oscar Pistorius?

If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.

Orville Wright

H ow things can change! Completely. Unexpectedly. Drastically. In a flash.

For several years prior to the blindsiding events of February 14, 2013, Oscar Pistorius had been the subject of intense international fascination and admiration. For a few years after that awful night, the world continued to follow his life story with equal enthralment. Now, however, the citizenrys absorption was of a far less exuberant sort. During both these time periods, virtually everyone knew of this extraordinary man. He had burst into our collective consciousness like a dazzling lightning bolt from Planet Earths southern hemisphere. Just a few years later, many are already beginning to forget his uniquely inspiring, and equally shocking story. Yesterday my neighbor asked what I am writing about. When I answered, he responded, Who is Oscar Pistorius? I must thank him for providing the title and topic for this opening chapter.