49 cellphones confiscated: South African police officers were offered a high price for photos of Oscar Pistorius; Officer’s phones were confiscated after they took photos of the murder suspect.
Police officers at the Boschkop police station in Pretoria, South Africa, took photographs with their cellphones as suspected murderer Oscar Pistorius was transferred between court and the station shortly after his arrest.
Police minister Nathi Mthethwa said 49 cellphones were confiscated. The confiscation came to light in a reply Mthethwa made to parliament on Monday, stating: “This action was necessary after it came to light that photos were taken of a high profile individual who had been arrested.”
The cellphones could be used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings against the officers.
The former lead investigator in the case, Hilton Botha, told South African publication The Star that foreign media had offered $50,000 for a photograph of the bathroom door Pistorius shot when he killed Reeva Steenkamp.
Officers working on the case were offered anywhere from $540 to $1,000 by local media for photographs, he said.
Botha told the Star during a bail hearing earlier this year that if the photographs from the crime scene are leaked, “both the State and the defense’s cases could be destroyed.”
“I decided at that point that all pictures should be sent off to forensics immediately. That way we had no pictures and there could be no leak. … But with that kind of money, you just never know,” Botha said.
Botha had been taken off the case after it was discovered that he was up for unrelated attempted murder charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
