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Subscribe to RSSSouth African runner Oscar Pistorious is entering his fifth day in jail after allegedly murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Police are investigating damage to her skull and friends of Pistorious say he frantically called them and admitted to shooting Steenkamp. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports
Two major sponsors of "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic and Paralympic star accused of murdering his model girlfriend, announced on Monday they are no longer supporting the standout South African athlete.
Oakley, the eyewear manufacturer, announced in a statement that it would immediately suspend its contract with Pistorius. And sporting gear giant Nike told the Associated Press the company has no plans to use him in any future advertisements. A 2007 Nike Internet ad featuring Pistorius springing with the caption “I am the bullet in the chamber” has been pulled from the web.
Dion Chang / AP
This photo taken through a car window shows workers taking down a billboard of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius endorsing a product in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday.
News of the athlete’s lost endorsements came just hours after his agent told media that the companies would stand by Pistorius as details of the still-mysterious shooting continue to emerge.
"All sponsors are still on board, and they have given us their commitment towards Oscar, based on the relationships that they have formed with him over the past years," said Peet van Zyl, who represents the double-amputee. "They are quite happy to allow the legal process to take its course before they make any other further and formal announcements on it."
The 26-year-old sprinter is due to appear Tuesday in a South African court, where he will seek bail. He strongly denied charges that he murdered model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp, 29, at his home near Pretoria early on Valentine’s Day.
Despite the bail hearing, all his upcoming races have been canceled, van Zyl confirmed.
Steenkamp died from gunshot wounds, according to police. Her funeral is due to take place Tuesday.
Karyn Maughan, legal correspondent for South Africa news channel ENCA, told NBC's TODAY that the sprinter would need to convince the court that her death was an accident.
“If he can’t prove that her death was unintentional, then it is unlikely he will get bail, and he also faces a life sentence in jail,” she said.
“He must try to convince the court he shot her in confusion, thinking she was an intruder. His difficulty is that multiple credible witness accounts suggest there were noises that sounded like an argument coming from the house before the shooting.”
According to newspaper reports Sunday, two friends claimed the sprinter called them in a panic after the shooting, telling them he had shot Steenkamp in a "terrible accident."
Pistorius’ uncle Arnold Pistorius on Saturday said the Paralympian was “numb with shock, as well as grief.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Karyn Maughan, senior legal reporter for eNCA news in South Africa, tells TODAY's Savannah Guthrie that Olympian Oscar Pistorius will have difficulty proving he didn't purposely shoot his girlfriend, and she explains that the Olympic runner kept a cricket bat next to his bed in fear of being attacked.
Related:
Prosecutor: 'Blade Runner' committed 'premeditated' murder of girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp was model, budding TV star
This story was originally published on Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:21 AM EST
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it was reveled today that there was a fifth shot, one in the bedroom, and four through the door. have not seen the bat was used in any source. But to the premeditated argument. Every shot after the first, carried premeditation with it because you could of chose to stop. That's why they are going after that charge. As far as the intruder mistake, when you fire a gun your responsible to know what your shooting at.
Ya, and not many intruders break into your home wearing a nightie!
Dick Cheney just shot his friend once. Probably an accident.
Apparently, he clubbed her skull flat with a cricket bat. Then blasted her when she crawled into the bathroom to hide from him.
I'm sure he won't have a leg to stand on when he gets to court.
Well, I know that Nike and Oakley (and any other sponsor that does not immediately drop him) is off my shopping list!
I wasn't there, don't think you were either. All we have to go by is the garbage put out by the media, free speech and freedom of the press, the truth has nothing to do with it, and oh how they love sensationalism and smut, whatever they don't know they fill in the blanks with lies and damn lies, and most people are gulible enough to believe it just because it's in the newspaper or on line or wherever. Regardless of where the truth lies (which I truly hope is found) it is just one more bright and shining example of instantly convicted in the media.
I will no longer buy Nike and Oakley products. Adidas and Ray Ban will get my buying dollars. His sponsors should be ashamed regardless.
Another example of stupidity. This is your drained gene pool folks. Killing has become way to easy an out for way to many individuals.
Nike, proving once again what scumbags they are.
It might be easier than than we think to mistake your 105 lb blond, supermodel, law-grad girlfriend for a life threatening intruder so of course you'd first hit her in the face with a cricket bat and then shoot her 3 times in the head??? On second thought, not so much a-hole so we hope that you rot in hell!!!
What has driven Pistorius to pick up a gun? What is the real motive that led him to fire a shot from a gun?
Is he waking up by the entrance of his girl friend, for he misidentified his girl friend to someone else? Or has he had arguments with his girl friend, then he picked up his gun and fired shots from his gun?
What did his girl friend do before the shooting,e .g, arriving home after doing errands?
Has Pistorius had drinking before firing shots? Or has he drunk and went back for a nap, but waking him up by the entrance of his girl friend?
Clearing up the confusion, including Pistorius' confusion, he has to tell the truth to his lawyers, and then to lay out each and every sequence activity, including the rationale for each activity, on the day that he shot his girl friend, to prepare a good defense.
How about we leave the investigating, accusations and defense to the proper authorities and officers of the court? These sponsors aren't dropping him as a client, but they are still yanking the ads. For right now all Nike and Oakley have to go on is the same as what we do - and that's lots of speculation, hearsay, and very few actual facts officially released by the authorities.
Besides, if they had dropped him immediately, the same people complaining that Nike and Oakley aren't dropping him would have been the same people complaining that they only dropped him for publicity.
Accusations? The guy admitted he shot her to his best friend!
"gun shot wounds". Plural. That means more than one shot. Accident ? Ah.....no.
Or a the least they will make many public proclamations about supporting him to reap as much free publicity as they can out of the sensationalized trial; then after the hype wears off they will drop him.
People who buy over priced Nike shoes/products are stupid anyway.
I agree with that you are not paying for a shoe but the entitlements they give to stars..
Than charge you up the rear for tickets..
I have not followed the story of this guy.
Was he a vet is that how he lost his legs?
Just wondering...
He was born without fibulas so they amputated his legs below the knee.
Sponsors usually don't back out until a verdict has been announced.
Mark my words;
- His career is over
- He will be guilty of some type of murder charge, negligence is not excusable.
- Sponsors will eventually drop him.
Ok, someone is murdered but he still has his sponsor deals-Woods commits adultury and loses his sponsor deals-I don't get it?? Is is worse to cheat than to murder??
Interesting that Nike would sponsor a guy with no feet. Does Nike make his blades?
Ossur, an Icelandic company (one of his other sponsors) makes his running blades.
Nike makes clothes, which I'm sure he wears. On top of that, he only wears the blades for running and wears more normal looking prosthetics for everyday. He wears Nikes with those legs. Apparently, according to his Twitter feed, he has a closet full of Nike sneakers.
Look for this to change real soon. Encourage everyone to boycott these sponsors' goods until they drop this murderer; his friend has admitted that he confessed to the murder. Pathetic that his father is condoning his son's "instincts."
That's funny. Tiger Woods commits infidelities and the sponsors leave en masse. This guy in South Africa murders his girlfriend and the sponsors stay...but for how long?
What happens when/if they discover he'd beeen using steroids when he won his medals? Since steroids were found in his home, that should be the next question.
Doesn't look like premeditation to me. Looks like someone who flipped out. He hit her, she ran into the bathroom to hide, he shot through the bathroom door--hitting her four times.
That is simply bizzare and crazy!! He probably was juiced up also.
I think one thing that his sponsors and a lot of his supporters are taking into account, is the clown college that IS the South African legal system; remember this is the same law enforcement community that shot a bunch of unarmed, striking miners to death last fall! Despite its "British" veneer, South Africa IS a third-world country, and I'm going to wait an see what comes out, before I take their word for what supposedly happened!
Ok, lets get this straight. Tiger Woods gets dumped by his sponsors because he cheated on his woman. This guy gets to keep his sponsors after he killed his? Yep, makes sense.
This guy needs to come up with a good lie and deliver it nice and smooth. Perhaps he should consult an expert in these matters. Mitt Romney needs a job, doesn't he?