Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story

Book excerpt: In February 2013 the news of successful model Reeva Steenkamp's fatal shooting by her boyfriend and global sporting star Oscar Pistorius stunned the world. Over the ensuing months, as Pistorius appeared in court, applied for bail and was eventually put on trial, every detail that emerged was analysed, debated, justified and digested. The world was haunted by the events as they were repeated and discussed at length. Public perception vacillated from version to version and from hour to hour. Finally, Judge Masipa found him to be not guilty of premeditated murder - but guilty of culpable homicide. Written by Mandy Weiner and Barry Batemen, the go-to journalists on the case for the world's media, Behind the Door is a compelling narrative that meticulously unpacks the evidence that has been so heavily scrutinised on all sides. But more than that, this book seeks to go beyond the facts of the case in search of the wider context behind this shocking tragedy: the back story of the police investigation, the nature of the South African criminal justice system, the culture of violence in South Africa and the need of society to create flawed heroes who are destined to fail. Vivid and gripping, Behind the Door is the most authoritative and insightful account of what really happened behind closed doors that fateful Valentine's morning.