Warren Lahoud was Reeva Steenkamp’s boyfriend before she dated Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with her murder. Lahoud said he met Reeva two days before her death, for a coffee in innocent circumstances. Pistorius reportedly interrupted the meeting, calling Reeva twice within twenty minutes during their meeting.
Lahoud confirmed he and his ex-girlfriend had exchanged text messages in the days before they met and before the shooting.
“She contacted me and we met up for a quick coffee, and that was it. We did (exchange text messages), to meet up the previous week. It was just a hello, how are you, and that’s it, and I suppose that led up to meeting me. She seemed fine. We didn’t really discuss personal relationships, it was more a friendly thing. She didn’t seem unhappy… I’m actually glad that we did meet now. I’m very glad that I did see her.”
Lahoud said he met Reeva in 2007 at a club in Johannesburg. They dated for a long time and were considering the idea of starting a business together. However, they relinquished the idea after Reeva said “she wanted to focus fully on her career”.
“What made it an even bigger shock for me was that we had a very good relationship. It just got to an end because we moved apart, but there was no significant problems, or any fighting or negativity. There were so many good things of her that I can remember,” Lahoud said.
Lahoud said Pistorius knew about him and had even met him. He said:
“I’ve met him twice and there was never anything negative out of it at all. (It was) fine…no problem at all.”
The day of her death on Valentine’s Day, Lahoud posted on Twitter:
27-year-old Lahoud is from Kensington in Johannesburg. He went out with Reeva for almost five years until July 2012. He heard about her death at Pistorius’ home in Pretoria and attended her cremation in Port Elizabeth. Warren Lahoud runs a South African vegetable exporting business. According to his Twitter profile he is “CEO, International Businessman, Outdoor Enthusiast, Whiskey on The Rocks, Stubborn”.
A family friend, Mike Azzie, said Pistorius frequently talks about Steenkamp as he awaits his next court appearance on June 4. The “Blade Runner” insists it was an accident, claiming he had thought she was an intruder.
Follow Warren on Twitter here, and on Instagram here.
