what is happening, and he has to leave with the weight of it. she wasn't breathing. >> and in-depth look at the story that stunned the world. murder and the blade runner. olympic runner story is charged with the murder of his girlfriend. >> she's not coming back >> he denied it. she was killed by himself at his house. >> what everybody will be watching for is whether intending to tend to kill her. >> i did not fire at revile. >> we want to believe him. you really really want to believe him. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ hello, and welcome to dateline. we have the story of oscar pistorino's. she was a brilliant model. he was an athlete famous for defying the odds. their futures glowed with promise. then, -- was gunned down. as police investigated, a chilling question transfixed the world. was her death an accident, or was south africa's national hero a murderer? it's keith morrison with "the rise and fall of oscar pistorius". >> such a time it was, like a different world. this was london, the year was 2012, and olympic history is about to be made. a moment was electrifying, and 45. 4 four seconds the south african double-team running on carbon fiber legs was transferred from global to international superstar. with a superhero nickname. the blade runner. he was oscar pistorius. >> he was just this amazing amazing icon. >> and in south africa, he was adored. not just as a remarkable athlete, but as a man of apparently flawless character. modest good manners, a man with good works. irresistible, of course endorsements in all he was almost interestedly wealthy, and certainly a list for glorious eight months. and then, four bullets in close range through a closed door. a woman was dead, and the myth of the blade runner was blown away. it was 3:20 am, on february 14th 2013th. valentine's day. when police arrived at oscar's house, he told them a harrowing story. >> oscar pistorius, according to him, has suffered death threats. he has been a victim of serious and violent crimes. >> the dark side of wealth and fame, he said, which is why you always kept a pistol in hand. >> he covered the story for south africa's 24 hour news channel. >> he worked around with a 9 mm gun with him all the time. >> that night, oscar was in his bedside table, when he was suddenly startled awake. >> and he has a noise in the bathroom, he didn't get what he describes as a sense of horror overcoming him. >> he grabbed his gun, -- without putting on -- and went looking for the source of the noise. >> he walked over to the bathroom, screams that this person he believed to be an intruder, get out of my house! get out of my house! and then opens fire. >> right through the bathroom door. and then, he told the police he went back to the bed, where he has been sleeping with his new girlfriend, a 29 year old model and aspiring attorney, that's when oscar said, he made a horrible discovery. riva wasn't in bed. >> and it immediately dawns on him. that she could be the person in the bathroom. >> he puts on his limbs and tries to break down the door. he then picks up a cricket bat which he kept for protection against burglars or intruders or whatever. well >> inside he said he found reeva bleeding. >> she was slumped over, but she still alive. he picks her up in his arms, carries her downstairs, she still breathing. >> she's been struck by three bullets, and by the time the police arrived, she was dead. oscar sobbed as he told the story. >> he didn't mean to kill her. it was a horrible accident, and according to his words, he is mortified to have taken the life of a person so loved by so many people. >> detectives collected evidence, the bullet riddled or, the cricket bat, they found security camera video showing reeva arriving at oscars subdivision at 6 pm. ten minutes later, by oscar. on the coffee table, they found the valentine's day gift card from reeva to ozzy, as she like to call him it was all such a terrible mistake but two of the tails didn't seem quite right. they found reeva's cell phone in the bathroom, why would you take that that with their -- more important, why was reeva dressed as if pretending to leave when she was shot. an accident, oh no, thought detectives. this was no accident. >> double olympic winner oscar pistorius was charged overnight with the valentine's day murder of his girlfriend. >> it was like an explosion, a huge nationwide shock. oscar pistorius charged with murder, how is it possible? >> a true hero, international star, in court like a common criminal pleading to be released on bail. >> he walked into the dark and he was shaken. his entire body was shaking. he was overcome, sobbing, struggling to breathe. >> and he seems to be actually genuine as far as you could tell? >> it did seem to be -- because it was over three days, that it would be physically impossible for human being to pick that over that time. >> what's he telling the truth? it was reeva the victim of a terrible accident? millions hope so, because if oscar was lying, paralympic hero must have been hiding a very dark side. >> behind the white hot glare of oscar celebrity, a full picture of the blade runner comes into focus. >> coming up, the oscar pistorius that the public did not see -- >> woke up ten minutes. to started screaming -- >> fights, threats and the fast crowd. >> is that world all dangerous? >> when dateline continues. but her moderate to severe eczema would make her skin so uncomfortable. now i'm staying ahead of it. dupixent helps heal your skin from within. so, they can have clearer skin and less itch. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. teeth sensitivity is so common. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patients say you know doc, it really works. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand, and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy, and save at trelegy.com type 2 diabetes? 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(vo) it's your last chance to trade in any iphone for a new iphone 15 pro on us. only on verizon. it was like grief in a way. first, shock. and here in south africa, denial. as their blade runner sat in the dark, charged with murder. reeva, the young woman who was just beginning to make a name for herself for fighting against domestic abuse and then killed by her boyfriend. but all around the country still in love with its shining hero tried to hang on to belief that her death was a nightmarish accident, and nothing more. >> this is a very conflicted narrative because you want to believe him. you really really want to believe him. >> it was a common desire. he must have thought he was firing at a burglar. >> support has been overwhelming from all across the world. >> oscar's manager spoke to us two weeks after the shooting. >> its not support just for him having lost someone really didn't close to him. >> but then, the question, could they believe? him really? who was he anyway? >> cheers. is my face turning a green is this drink? >> he was religious. he was happy. apparently all the time. you never had terrible days. >> not really, i've got to the point that i'm really happy. oscar was born without key bones in his feet and lower leg. his parents could've opted for years of re-constructive surgery, but instead, they decided to have oscar's lower legs amputated. but when he was 11 months old. it was a good decision at the end, said oscar. >> i believe it sets certain things in my life, it changed my personality in a positive way due to having a disability. >> as nbc cameras followed australia around south africa, and always leading up to the 2012 olympics, he seemed grounded, humble, salt of the earth. >> he had joined charities. this one, dedicated to helping land mine victims, -- >> i have been very lucky to be involved in projects where we've been able to get funding to make them prosthetic legs. >> i really have exalted this guy. he seemed very aware of his personal power and what he could do with it. >> i really thought that he was a game-changer. new york times reporter spent a couple of weeks with oscar back then, and he too was just pressed. at oscar's home, there's almost an entire shelf of mandela biographies. an oscar's reads them. he's a smart guy, a literate person. >> but just before those triumphant olympics, he witnessed a disturbance an oscar's life. he broke up with his longtime girlfriend samantha taylor. here is a selfie oscar took in happier times. olympics came first, he told samantha. >> he was too focused, too intent on the school, and he didn't feel there was something you could maintain. he broke it off with her. >> after that, a world celebrity, the oscar flew to the seashells, to an episode of south african talk show called--. oscar's companion on the september trip was samantha taylor, his old girlfriend, the one he broke up with before the olympics. certainly looked here as if oscar had patched things up with her. >> i'm someone that's -- who's very caring. >> you know both blushing. >> at home of course, oscar wasn't item everywhere he went. when he ordered a brand-new mclaren sportscar, it was noticed like everything he did was noticed. oscar clearly enjoyed the attention, and began to spend more time with new friends. solid coaches who raised him taught him humility, gave way to billionaire or -- you hear in his reality tv show and there was nightclub on and ex convict -- >> i was a gangster. >> i was a gangster. people don't usually say that. if you are out of it, it's easy to say that. >> they loved oscar. love showing him up to a whole new cast of characters. not all of whom are certainly had oscar's best interest in heart. >> is that world at all dangerous for a newbie to become involved? are there sharks out there? >> everywhere they are sharks, yes. >> many behind the wheels of fast and fancy cars. >> he comes with his ferrari's. there's--. there's porsches. there is mclaren's. there is--. it's very flashy. >> the speed of all kinds past people fast cars. and here at the local formula 1 race drive, he met a crowd to. met the whole place for private races, and their parties up there in the club house. here, oscar met the kind of people he might never have met had he not been oscar pistorius. here he met the people who pulled the thread from the carefully woven fabric of his life. >> and in particular, his friend vanderbilt, oscar originally accused clinton of having an affair with samantha taylor during the olympics. after oscar first broke up with samantha. >> oscar walked up to him just going off him -- and my girlfriend. i'm running for my country. >> this is south african soccer star mark bachelor. >> he denied clinton and invading samantha taylor and he was so upset by oscar's outburst. he asked bachelor to speak to him. >> so he was still shaking up. he asked me -- >> but, said bachelor, when he phoned oscar, who [ inaudible the problem with me? i'm not scared of you. i said, oscar, out of your league, i will break your neck, i just laughed it off. i didn't think anything of it. >> he by way had a checkered past himself. and so he said he knew the signs of a man losing his balance. hanging out with the wrong people. >> oscar got sucked in there and it just became too much too quickly for him. >> there was a final break out with samantha. friend said she complained oscar was not pleasant at all. samantha's mother said she was afraid for her daughter safety. the public knew none of that. as far as his fans were concerned, oscar was on top of the world. and so oscar walked the red carpet in november 2012, at the national sports award show with this woman on his arm. the entire country wanted to know who is she? coming up, reeva had a brilliant mind. she was smart and funny and all those things, but she was brilliant. oscar and reeva's new romance enter an old flame. authorities wonder could jealousy be a motive in the shooting. when dateline returns. movements called td, tardive dyskinesia. td can be caused by some mental health meds. and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. #1-prescribed ingrezza is the only td treatment for adults that's always one pill, once daily. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on most mental health meds. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have thoughts of suicide. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including angioedema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements. report fevers, stiff muscles, or problems thinking as these may be life threatening. sleepiness is the most common side effect. it's nice. people focus more on me. ask your doctor about #1 prescribed, once-daily ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ >> in police reports of the shooting, she is described as the victim. according to her friends, that is altogether the wrong word to describe reeva steenkamp. reeva's journey to to her tragic end began with a phone call in -- the most sought after celebrity in south africa. i'm oscar pistorius we did in the last minute. so -- come and be my day. >> reeva was 29 when she lit up the red carpet with oscar at the south african sports awards in 2012. reeva had looks, no question there. but according to her friends, that might have been released of her attributes. >> reeva had a brilliant mind. she was smart and funny and all those things, but she was brilliant. >> gina myers was her roommate. she actually lived with gina and her parents to save money. but also being far from home, she missed her family. and it was comforting to be part of somebody else's. >> she often told me how grateful she was for her upbringing. her family is a very down to earth. they were very humble and reeva was exactly the same. >> she grew up in a small farm near the factory town of port elizabeth. tough enough to come back from a serious fall of a horse. she broke her back. spent eight months in a hospital. had to learn to walk all over again. she attended a devout and diverse catholic school. st. dominic's. where students are taught to be of service to the poor. by the time she entered the pre-law program at nelson mandela university, she was trying to make a difference to be part of the new south africa. but then a relationship with a man, her first serious boyfriend, turned abusive, frightening, destroyed herself confidence. >> she had spoken about having a previously abusive relationship -- >> after graduation, reeva moved far away to the big city, johannesburg. >> she had an unbelievable personality. she had an unbelievable heart. >> he had met reeva soon after she arrived in town, and they two quickly fell in love. >> she got everyone together. >> how long did you go out? together >> four years. >> during which reeva became determined to do something about the kind of domestic violence should experience the hands of that first boyfriend. and he encouraged her. shared her outlook, her down home sensibilities. >> he was a -- >> in one of life's weird twists, mark bachelor new reeva back then two when she was dating. >> talking about women -- >> but before then, reeva wanted to live out of fantasy. she had modeled as a teenager. decided to give it another try before going on to law school. she was looking for was gonna take her places. >> her career took off. she appeared in ads, tv commercials, videos, like this one from the men's magazine fhm. >> bdid she ever have a big head? never. >> but by july of 2012, she broke her news. she wanted for the first time in her life to be on her own. >> she was very busy. so i suppose we start going apart, and sometimes you need a break. >> by then, she was speaking out publicly about domestic violence. she only knew oscar the way everybody knew oscar. as the electrifying blade runner in the olympic games. and then, through coincidence, four months later, the car dealer that oscar ordered that mclaren showed him a picture of her. suggested he might want to take her to the sports awards. it was like they were made for each other. both, disciplined, hardworking, will read, hoping to put their fame to use. in the betterment of others. oscar, victims, and re-victims of domestic violence. >> did you meet oscar? >> i did yes. >> she -- >> and like a gentleman, lauren accepted his role as his her ex. and as an ex-boyfriend, he would occasionally meet reeva at a café to talk about all those times. one of those encounters, though, for ever be replaying in his mind. >> what did she tell you she was up to? >> she told me how she loved him. she was happy. >> perfectly innocent, said lauren, but did oscar think so? bachelor had seen, he said, how jealous oscar could be about his former girlfriend samantha. he told us reeva's friends believe oscar now felt the same way about her. >> she was contacting her ex, warren. >> was oscar jealous of him? we don't know. but we do know this, that little coffee date warren had with reeva, it was on february 12th 2013. 36 hours before oscar killed her. coming up, prosecutors lay out the case. iphones, bullet holes, reeva's clothes, neighbors stories. >> but everybody will be watching whether or not you can prove the intent to kill her. >> we would not have charged him if we didn't believe so. >> when dateline continues. ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪ ♪...it's a new day,♪ it's time to make a stand. ♪and i'm feelin' good.♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd... ...medicine has the power to treat copd... ...in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler,... ...trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler... ...for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating,... ...vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand, and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy... ...and save at trelegy.com. >> hello i'm katie phang and here's what's happening. the next phase of israel's war with hamas appears to be imminent. the israel defense forces is beefing up military personnel and equipment at the gaza border to expand what officials call an integrated and coordinated attack from the air, sea, and land. the state department says that the israel hamas wars killed at least 29 u.s. citizens. officials say other u.s. citizens remain unaccounted for right now, and the u.s. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts. now, back to dateline. >> welcome back to "dateline". i'm craig melvin. reeva steenkamp and oscar pistorius we're an a list item. but just months into their relationship, rumors of oscar's jealousy were causing a stir. then, on valentines day, the romance ended in a blast of gunfire. now, the man who pulled the trigger was headed headed to court with the world watching. here's keith morrison with "the rise and fall of oscar pistorius". >> four shots through a door. no question, oscar pistorius fired them and that he killed reeva steenkamp. but was it murder? police and prosecutors thought it was from the very first night. as the trial began, everyone was wondering how the state was going to prove the killing of reeva was premeditated. that oscar actually meant to kill her. >> i think the state has put a huge amount of work and a huge amount of money, and a huge amount of effort into making their case. >> a case that the prosecution argued was just as simple as it looked on day one. >> he can't deny that reeva was killed by himself, at his house. and that four shots were fired at her. >> attorney -- worked for south africa's national prosecuting authority. he previewed, cautiously, the prosecution's case against oscar. what everybody will be watching for is whether or not you can prove he intended to kill her. and you sound like a pretty confident the prosecution has enough to be able to prove that? >> we would not have charged him if we didn't believe so. he knew that reeva was in the bathroom and he intended to kill her. >> reeva was dressed when she was shot, as if she intended to leave. she had taken her cell phone with her when she locked herself in the bathroom. said -- that a spokesperson for south africa's prosecuting authority. >> we believe that reeva was probably running away and she locked herself in the bathroom. >> what's the prosecution's theory about the fact that she was wearing white shorts and a black top? >> it cannot be explained as of now. until such time the accused can take the stand and say, she decided to put on clothes to go to the bathroom. or, she decided to stay i'm going to sleep in my clothes. i'm not going to put my night clothes on. >> tipsters told investigators in the month before the reeva shooting, oscar had recklessly fired his pistol twice before. once through the sunroof of his car, while driving. another time while having lunch at this crowded, upmarket cafe. >> he actually accidentally shoots it. he then asks his friend to take the fall for him, saying that, you know, i'm a well-known person. the media will be all over this. >> you say you shot the gun? >> help me out. the state is arguing that he's never taken responsibility for anything. ever. everyone keeps making excuses for him. and now a woman is dead. >> weirdly, this happened in the very same restaurant where reeva met with her ex boyfriend, warren. a day and a half before oscar shot her to death. in addition to murder, prosecutors added those firearm charges, nickel and dime stuff you might say, but the prosecutors had their reasons. >> what they essentially are is part of a strategy by the prosecution to present oscar pistorius as a trigger-happy cowboy who reaches for his firearm in moments of stress. >> like the time when four months before reeva's, shooting oscar tweeted about going into full combat recon mood when he heard a noise in the laundry room. what's interesting in that account is what oscar did not do. he did not fire four shots through the door. so, what about the time he actually did fire his pistol? during that awful night he took reeva's life? we made a replica of oscar's bathroom door, a thick, solid wood. on a target range, we fired the same type of nine millimeter round from the same type of pistol oscar used. bullets ripped right through the door as if it was nothing more than gossamer. we also learned there something unique about this 9 mm. it's not only powerful, but exceptionally loud. so much so it's impossible to convey without blowing out your speakers. 160 decibels. louder than a jet engine at takeoff. makes your ears ring. according to prosecution spokesman -- many of oscar's neighbors heard those gunshots and something possibly more damning. screams. >> and it's not just, by the way, the screams. it's whether did people actually hear arguments prior to that. did you hear a woman shouting, something, irritated and annoyed, angry. and a man, screaming, shouting, and so on. >> the prosecution named more than a dozen neighbors as potential witnesses. five of them, according to the pre-trial report, said they heard arguing and shots, followed by the screams of a woman. and then further shots. >> and if people said, we heard gunshots, screams, gunshots, screams. you know. it's going to be pretty much hard for him to argue that the state didn't know that the woman screaming illicit the girlfriend. >> how would oscar ever be able to explain that way? in court? >> coming up. a shining olympic hero hiding a secret terror. >> this is a person who was living essentially, and a city of fear. >> you kind of buy oscar story then, that he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom? >> yes. >> when "dateline" continues. and with vitiligo, the pursuit for your pigment is no exception. it's time you had a proven choice to help restore what's yours. opzelura is the first and only fda-approved prescription treatment for nonsegmental vitiligo... proven to help repigment skin... over time. restoring what's yours. it's possible... with a steroid-free cream that you can apply... yourself. opzelura can lower your ability to fight infections including tb or hepatitis b or c. serious lung infections, skin cancer, blood clots, and low blood cell counts occurred with opzelura. in people taking jak inhibitors, serious infections, increased risk of death, lymphoma, other cancers, and major cardiovascular events have occurred. the most common side effects were acne and itching where applied. if you're on the pursuit, repigmentation may be within reach. so, are you ready? 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>> yes, >> it makes sense to you. it makes so much sense. >> oscar's attorneys said reporter could argue oscar had been fearful his entire life for good reason. >> i think there is an awareness from his defense team that they cannot present oscar as this perfect human being, who was so idealized by so many people. there has to be an acknowledgment, a real acknowledgment, of the kind of issues that he's had. that have always been brewing under the surface. >> in fact, she said she learned oscar plan to ask the court to hold him to a different standard of justice. >> but he can't be judged according to the standards of the reasonable man. >> south africa self-defense law is based on how a reasonable man would react to an attack. he said oscar's defense team would portray him as something other than that. >> we need to take into account that this is a person who has persistently said that he felt the most vulnerable on his stumps, and was living essentially in a state of fear and the state of terror. and you need to judge him by that standard. >> oscar pistorius fought for years to get into the olympics, to be treated like everybody else there. but now, he was expected to make the opposite argument in court. that he was different. a double amputee who lived in constant fear of the dark. >> oscar didn't sleep well. oscar didn't sit still. he was restless all the time. >> michael --, while working on his new york times sunday magazine story, said he observed that in private, oscar was often afraid. >> he seemed to have a great deal of fear, reasonable or not, of people breaking into his house. one day when i was with him, we came back into the house, and he said by the way, there was a noise in the house last night. and i thought it was an intruder, and i came downstairs with my gun. >> armed and afraid, a dangerous combination. >> the account oscar gave the night he shot reeva seemed very telling, but his portrayal himself was a far cry from the heroic blade runner. i heard a noise in the bathroom. i felt a sense of terror rushing over me. i believed someone had entered my house. i was too scared to switch a light on. i ground my nine millimeter pistol from underneath my bed. i fired shots at the toilet door and shouted for her to phone the police. i was still too scared to switch on the light. >> too scared to switch on a light! , but not too scared to pull the trigger on a pistol, as this footage from sky news video reveals, oscar was very comfortable with a gun in his hands, and knew quite well the damage it can do. which oscar pistorius would the judge see? >> coming up, her shots, her screams were putrefying. it was clear that this person's life was in danger. neighbors tell their stories, and oscar tells his. i sat over even i cried -- she wasn't breathing. when dateline continues. when dateline continues. he was bad luck anyway. teeth sensitivity is so common. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patients say you know doc, it really works. 1 down, 9 to go. hey, what are you and cdoing out here?down. i just had something picked up. oh my gosh, i'm having something delivered. carvana? you know carvana? searched it, bought it, scheduled it. ah, and here it is. you think carvana's good for buying, you should try selling one. oh my gosh, it's almost identical. you gotta have backup, you know what i say. good job hun. thanks. woo, i loved it once and i love it twice. uh, where is the other one? buy or sell your car with carvana today. (vo) if your thyroid eye disease was diagnosed a long, long time ago you may think your eyes will be bulging forever. like a never-ending curse that can't be broken. but even if you've been told it's too late, treating your thyroid eye disease may still be possible. and a new day is within sight. learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at stilltreatted.com. welcome back. more than a year had passed since oscar pistorius fired four bullets through a bathroom door killing reeva steenkamp. now, the beloved olympic athelete was about to have a day scored in the world will be watching. the scene, promised to be a spectacle, but one with very real consequences. here's keith morrison with the conclusion off "the rise and fall of oscar pistorius". >> the trial of oscar pistorius in the spring of 2014 was an international event, streamed live to the world. >> do you understand the charges? >> i do. i do my lady. >> how do you plead? >> not guilty my lady. >> it was all so dramatic. there were the neighbors. five of them, who testified off camera. they heard the gunshots when reeva was killed, but not just gunshots, they heard reeva terrified. >> her shouts, her screams were petrifying. i knew something terrible was happening in that house. >> the neighbor's husband even identical account. >> she started screaming again. at that point, the intensity and the fear in her voice escalated. >> and it was clear that this person's life was in danger. that's when the first shots were fired. >> oscar's next door neighbor testified she heard a loud argument more than an hour before the shooting. >> i heard sounds. it seemed like somebody was involved in a fight. and these people are talking in loud voices, my lady. and around about 3:00 in the morning, i heard four gunshots. >> which went through the door behind which reeva steenkamp was standing, said the prosecutor. he brought the door to court, bullet holes all along. and then the state's ballistic expert described how, shot by, shot through that door, oscar took reeva's life. >> most probably, it will gonna leave us -- when she was in a standing position between the door in the toilet seat. >> that shot shatters rivas hip. she fell back onto a magazine stand. but her hands up in a futile attempt to protect herself, as a tech and round pass through our upper right arm. the third shot, missed, but the fourth one struck her in the head. >> if we look at her defensive position, it's like if you see in this position, what a wound on her left hand, just between the two fingers with that and she was a bit facing down. a comes in here, it was penetrating the head of the deceased -- >> oscar response to his destiny, covered his head, plugging his ears and vomiting into a trash can. prosecutors made the case that oscar was a man governed by his emotions, not just grief and guilt, as seen in court. but also jealousy and rage. to make that case, the state admitted a string of text messages sent three weeks before the shooting. reeva to oscar. i was not flirting with anyone today -- i'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me. oscar responded, i was upset that you just left me after we got food and went to talk to a guy -- i was watching you touch his arm and ignore me. >> then, with six days to live, here was reeva again to oscar. >> i can't be attacked by outsiders for dating you, and be attacked by you, the one person i deserve protection from. but oscar's lawyer said the texts were nothing more than a lover's spat. so, what really happened that night? well, only one person survived, and he, oscar pistorius himself, took the stand off camera to tell the world his version. >> i heard a window open in the bathroom. i thought that there was a burglar that was gaining entry into my home. the first thing that ran through my mind was that i needed to arm myself. that i needed to protect reeva and i, and that i needed to get my gun. and then i heard a noise from inside the toilet. what i perceived to be somebody coming out of the toilet. before i knew it, i fired four shots at the door. my ears were ringing, i couldn't hear anything. so i shouted. i kept on shouting for reeva to phone the police. i unlocked the door, and i flung the door open -- and i threw it open. and i sat over reeva, and i cried. she wasn't breathing. >> south africa does not have a jury system, so oscar's testimony was for an audience of one, the judge would determine oscar's guilt or innocence. and five months later, when judgment day finally arrived, >> mr. pistorious please standup >> the judge made it clear she believed oscar. >> it was a genuine mistake as he thought he was shooting at an intruder behind the toilet door. the accused is found not guilty, and is discharged. >> not guilty of murder. the judge did find a oscar guilty of a lesser charge, culpable homicide. in the us terms, manslaughter. reeva steenkamp's parents devastated. >> i wanted the truth, and we didn't get the truth. that's the whole point, we did not get the truth. that's not what i believe or they believe happened. that's not justice, that's not justice. >> for them, the news only got worse. the sentence was much more lenient than expected. five years, and then just a year into the -- this happened. >> there is late news tonight from south africa. nbc news has learned one-time olympic hero oscar pistorius has been released from prison. >> oscar was allowed to move into his uncles compound to serve out the rest of his sentence. it was a strange ending to a strange story. except that wasn't the end of the story. in south africa, the rules are little different. prosecutors can appeal verdicts, which they did. and after the trial, after oscar was sent home, a higher court upgraded his conviction. >> the accused conviction from count one are set aside and replaced with the following guilty of murder. >> the court increased oscar sentenced to 2 to 13 years, and so he went back to prison. he will be eligible for parole in 2023. so until then -- >> on the evening of july 14th, 2019, as he sat in his car in front of the home where he had met him, two gunmen, unknown, fired into mark bachelor's car. >> police are investigating a case of murder. >> this murder was national news. south african broadcasting company was all over it. a targeted hit, the police called it. the rumors that bachelor got mixed up with a fast crowd, which got us to thinking about the time this sports god told us how, like oscar, he struggled to stay grounded, as his own fame and money soared. >> this is getting to fake and too much -- who's got more money? and who's got more -- we've been listening to this in that. >> there is an eternal truth to the ancient myth about flying too close to the sun, whether one celebrated footballer, or shining star of the london olympics, who flew on his flashing blades, and fell so fast and so far. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline" i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> good sunday morning to you all. i'm jonathan capehart. >> and i'm katie

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