Pistorius investigators ask Apple for help

Murder accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius has forgotten the four digit code to his iPhone, forcing police to seek help from Apple reports the Mail on Sunday.

The UK tabloid says the phone was one of four found in the bathroom where Pistorius shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead earlier this year.

According to the paper, the case’s lead investigator Lieutenant General Vineshkumar Moonoo said: “Pistorius is saying he can’t remember the code and we have been unable to access messages sent or received that night. These could be crucial and Apple executives in America have made their technicians available to help us.

I cannot say Pistorius’s memory failure is suspicious but the mobile phones were clearly in use up to the time of the killing”.

During Pistorius’ bail hearing, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the phones could be vital to the case.

Technology has played a major role not just in investigating but also reporting the case ever since news of Steenkamp’s death hit Twitter in the early hours of Valentine’s Day. From that morning onwards, and especially after the decision not to allow the bail hearings to be televised (and selectively photographed), Pistorius’ appearances in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of murdering the law graduate all but become a story told in 140 characters.

Pistorius will next appear in Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on 19 August.