Tag Archives: Hilton Botha

Hilton Both Resigns: Police Say Former Lead Detective In Oscar Pistorius Murder Case Resigned

By The Huffington Post News Editors

JOHANNESBURG — South African police say the former lead detective in the investigation of the murder case against Oscar Pistorius has resigned from the police force.

Police Brig. Neville Malila said Thursday that detective Hilton Botha voluntarily applied to leave the service.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

Former Pistorius detective quits South African police force

South African police say the former lead detective in the investigation of the murder case against Oscar Pistorius has resigned from the police force.

Police Brig. Neville Malila said Thursday that detective Hilton Botha voluntarily applied to leave the service.

Botha made several procedural errors in his role as the lead investigator after Pistorius, the double-amputee athlete who competed at the London Olympics, shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Feb. 14.

It later emerged that Botha faced attempted murder charges for a case in which he fired on a vehicle in an attempt to make it stop. His superiors then removed him from the Pistorius case.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

OJ Cop, Attorney Weigh In on Pistorius

By John Johnson If the Oscar Pistorius trial in South Africa didn’t call to mind the OJ trial before the latest drama with the ( now-ousted ) lead detective, allow Gawker to draw the parallels between South African cop Hilton Botha and former LAPD cop Mark Fuhrman. But what does Furhman himself think… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

Murder in Pretoria? OJ detective says 'Blade Runner' evidence is overwhelming

By Greg Wilson

Attorneys for Oscar Pistorius, the so-called Blade Runner, are poking headline-grabbing holes in the forensic evidence arrayed against the South African double amputee, but none of it changes facts that show the Olympic sprinter killed his model girlfriend, said former LAPD investigator and author Mark Fuhrman.

The former lead detective in the Pistorius case is facing an attempted murder charge stemming from an on-duty incident, prosecutors may have been too quick to say steroids were found in the Pretoria mansion of the suspect and detectives missed a bullet lodged in the bathroom wall.

“So what?” says Fuhrman, who as a detective had a major role in the O.J. Simpson case and then went on to write several books analyzing the evidence in various high-profile murders.

“The defense attorneys are doing what defense attorneys everywhere do,” Fuhrman said. “When you look at the facts, even omitting all the forensic evidence the police have produced, it’s crystal clear.

“Here is what he admits: ‘I shot my girlfriend.’ And he has to admit he fought with her in the past, because the police had been there previously. That’s really all you need to know here.”

Fuhrman dismissed the latest revelation that South African detective Hilton Botha is facing attempted murder charges in connection with a 2011 shooting incident. That case, which involved Botha and two other police officers who allegedly fired at a minibus they were trying to stop, was reopened 10 days before Pistorius’ girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp was killed, after new evidence surfaced. Botha was taken off the Blade Runner case on Thursday.

“That wasn’t a shock,” Fuhrman said. “Any street cop knows you will be sued or involved in some type of litigation throughout your career. If the detective was compromised in any way, how does that change the actions of the suspect on the night in question?”

Although Botha admitted under questioning that nothing at the crime scene was inconsistent with Pistorius’ explanation, Fuhrman said the evidence is a much better fit with the explanation that prosecutors have offered.

Steenkamp, 29, was in a bathroom when she was shot four times through the door. Defense attorneys have sought to dispel the idea she was hiding from her enraged beau by noting her bladder was empty – suggesting she had gone to the room to use the toilet. Fuhrman scoffed at the explanation.

“I’ve got news for them: When you’re dead, your bowels and bladder relax,” he said.

Pistorius, 26, claims he awoke in the night and heard a noise in the bathroom and assumed it was an intruder, saying he felt a “sense of terror rushing over” him.

“He knew there were two people in the house, he lives there, and she’s over,” Fuhrman said. “He hears something in the bathroom, and he doesn’t think it’s his girlfriend? He has an extensive security system that apparently has not been set off, yet he assumes the person behind the bathroom door is a burglar?”

The defense has also disputed the “pre-meditated” aspect of the murder charge. But Fuhrman noted reports that a bloody …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

Lead Cop Still on Pistorius Case—for Now

By Evann Gastaldo Though there are reports that lead detective Hilton Botha is off the Oscar Pistorius murder case now that he’s facing his own attempted murder charges , a police spokesperson tells Reuters that’s not so—at least not yet. An internal disciplinary investigation will be held and a decision will be made,… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

Oscar Pistorius Prosecutors: Detective Hilton Botha Should Be Dropped From Case

By The Huffington Post News Editors

PRETORIA, South AfricaSouth Africa‘s National Prosecuting Authority acknowledged Thursday that the timing of attempted murder charges against a policeman leading the investigation into Oscar Pistorius was “totally weird” and that the policeman should be dropped from the case against the world-famous athlete.

Bulewa Makeke, spokeswoman for the NPA, said it was a decision for police and not prosecutors whether to take detective Hilton Botha off the case that has riveted the world’s attention and is bringing scrutiny on South Africa‘s justice system. Botha testified on Wednesday in the case, acknowledging that nothing in Pistorius’ account of the fatal Valentine’s Day shooting of his girlfriend contradicted what police had discovered. That testimony in the double amputee’s bail hearing marked a setback for the prosecution.

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Hilton Botha, Oscar Pistorius Investigator, Faces Attempted Murder Charges: South African Police

By The Huffington Post News Editors

PRETORIA, South Africa — South African police say the lead investigator in the case against Olympian Oscar Pistorius faces attempted murder charges in an October 2011 shooting.

Police Brig. Neville Malila said Thursday that detective Hilton Botha is scheduled to appear in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder. Malila says Botha and two other police officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in the incident.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post