So says the eNCA (DStv 403) star court and specialist reporter Karyn Maughan who has covered the story since the shocking day on 14 February last year when the Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day.
Oscar Pistorius is accused of premeditated murder.
Karyn Maughan produced the captivating and emotive half hour special report Reeva: The Model You Thought You Knew for eNCA.
The revealing and well-produced, must-see documentary is about Reeva Steenkamp's life, her upbringing in Port Elizabeth, the debilitating back accident that she suffered when she fell off a horse and almost saw her never walking again, the previous emotional abusive relationship that spurred her to speak out about the abuse against women, as well as the last few months of her life during which she was in a romantic relationship with Oscar Pistorius.
"It is an enormous trial. It is going to be the OJ Simpson of South African judicial history," said Karyn Maughan.
"It's going to be massive. It's going to be playing out to a global audience. My sense is it is going to be a very ugly trial. Oscar Pistorius' legal team regards it as a form of character assassination. The state regards it as an example of how erratic and emotional this person was".
"Reeva Steenkamp was really an exceptional woman," said Karyn Maughan. "Her warmth, her determination, her resilience - you get a fuller picture of who she was" in the documentary.
"Reeva Steenkamp was an FHM model but she was far more than that. She utilised her beauty to get where she wanted to in life. There's a very big difference in the world between someone who consciously seeks fame, and someone who wants to have influence. And I think she was the second, and that very much comes through in this documentary."
For the emotional documentary, Karyn Maughan spent time in Port Elizabeth, spoke to close friends who were moved to tears talking about Reeva Steenkamp, found footage of the aspiring model as a 20 year old contestant in Miss Port Elizabeth, as well as people who spoke to her in the last days of her life.
Close friend Phuti Khomo revealed in the documentary that Reeva Steenkamp told her just before she died that Reeva Steenkamp's relationship with Oscar Pretorius "became overwhelming" and that it "took a toll on the relationship".
Reeva Steenkamp made no secret of wanting to be on television and having a TV career. She came a step closer when she was a contestant in the fifth season of Tropika Island of Treasure.
The show was already filmed before she died. The production company, Clover and SABC1 went ahead and broadcast Tropika Island of Treasure just days after Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed.
