The Oscar Pistorius case took a strange twist after it was revealed that Hilton Botha, the lead investigator, was charged with seven counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors said they didn’t know Botha faces seven charges of attempted murder in connection with the October 2011 shooting of a minibus in South Africa. Hilton Botha, a 24-year police veteran with 16 years as a detective, is slated to appear in court this May along with two other police officers in the incident. The bus shooting charges were initially dropped in the wake of the incident, but officials said the Director of Public Prosecutions had reinstated the charges. The country’s National Prosecuting Authority said the detective should be taken off the Oscar Pistorius case, but it’s a decision only police can make. The revelation came one day after Botha testified that authorities recovered two boxes of testosterone, along with needles, from Pistorius’ bedroom. This raised speculation that Pistorius was on steroids when he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last week at his home in Pretoria, South Africa. In the bail hearing, Botha testified that contrary to Pistorius’ claims, he knew Steenkamp “was in the bathroom, and he shot four shots through the door.” Pistorius has claimed that he thought she was an intruder when he fired and the whole thing was a tragic accident; police and prosecutors say otherwise. Botha and Pistorius actually crossed paths before in 2009, when the detective investigated accusations of assault against the Olympic track superstar. Pistorius won global acclaim as the first-ever double-amputee runner in Olympic competition last year, holding his own against able-bodied athletes.
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Hilton Botha, Oscar Pistorius Case Detective, Charged With Attempted Murder
