a raging, highly emotional young man, something trish taylor, the mother of his ex-girlfriend, sam taylor, saw so much of. >> there was a lot of commotion in our relationship. >> reporter: in her book, which abc news has exclusively obtained, revealed he would scream at his 17-year-old girlfriend, sam taylor, for failing to take her dishes to the sink. >> i think oscar was an accident waiting to happen. >> reporter: melinda co-authored the book. >> he was the guy that was -- always something was going to happen. in a sense, it was all leading up to some tragedy. >> reporter: something pistorius may have foreshad doped in e-mails he reportedly wrote to trish taylor. most of my life, i had moments that i sabotaged the good that i have. and, in a country where domestic violence is epidemic, court watchers worried about the judges message. is this going to be controversial in this country? >> it's going to be very controversial. i was on my way here. i heard a local radio station that said, very simply this is going to be the excuse that every man uses to shoot his girlfriend. it's going to b

news has exclusively obtained, reveal that she says he would scream at his 17-year-old girlfriend sam taylor for failing to take her dishes to the sink. >> i think oscar was an accident waiting to happen. >> reporter: melinda ferguson co-authored the book. >> he was the bullet in the chamber, the nike ad. the guy always something was going to happen. in a sense it was all leading up to some tragedy. >> reporter: something pistorius may have foreshadowed in e-mails he purportedly wrote to trish taylor. most of my adult life i've had moments i sabotage the good that i have. in a country where domestic violence is epidemic, court watchers worry about the judge's messaging. >> is this going to be controversial in this country? >> it's going to be very controversial. i was on my way here. i tuned into a local radio station. he said simply, "this is going to be the excuse every man uses to shoot his girlfriend. it's going to be legally justifiable. it is a terrible, terrible decision for our country. >> reporter: even as pistorius left court, he heard a sound perhaps already heralding renewed acce

sam taylor, a former girlfriend who testified in the trial, spoke out today against pistorius. taylor said that twice he'd been so drunk and aggressive that she'd hid his gun in fear for her life. >> he was kind of like, "where's my gun? i need my gun. i can't go to bed without my gun." i thought if there's a gun around anything can go wrong so i prevented it as much as i could. >> reporter: culpable homicide is a serious conviction in south africa, but sentencing is entirely at the judge's discretion, and could range from a fine to 15 years behind bars. but the prosecution is bitterly disappointed with today's ruling and will consider whether it appeals the verdict once that sentence has been handed down. that will take place on october 13. >> pelley: debora patta outside the high court in pretoria. debora, thanks very much. and cbs news will have more about the pistorius case on a special friday's edition of "48 hours." that's tonight at 8:00, 7:00 central time. there is breaking news tonight involving another nfl star. our cbs station in minneapolis, wcco, says it has confir

this morning, abc news has exclusively obtained a copy of a tell-all book by his ex-girlfriend, sam taylor's mother, portraying oscar pistorius as an emotional wreck and a danger to those closest to him. do you believe that if sam stayed with oscar, it would have been her behind that door? >> i'm convinced it would have been. >> reporter: co-authored by linda ferguson, the book "oscar an accident waiting to happen," alleges oscar would drive his sports car almost 200 miles per hour, with a terrified petite blonde inside. that he wept hundreds of times on the phone with taylor and his mother, and apologize for his explosive temper. in one e-mail, he reportedly wrote, sometimes i find it easier to believe that there is darkness in others like i know it is in me. in another e-mail, the author says he wrote, most of my adult life, i've had moments that i sabotage the good that i have. and now, ahead of his trial for the murder of another blonde girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, oscar pistorius, again on-edge. the blade runner seen friday, sporting a scuffy beard and beefier than he was during the tri

sam taylor, his girlfriend of two years. when you first heard she was killed, what went through your mind? >> i definitely thought it could have been me. >> reporter: now sentencing could be weeks away, and the judge has enormous discretion. but during the lunch break, oscar pistorius was led down into a holding cell, kept there for an hour. that may be the most time he spends behind bars after the conviction. >> we want to ask dan abrams about that. we watched the evidence, watched the trial. i'm one of those people, like you, who is shocked by this. >> it's not just that the verdict itself is stunning. the not guilty on the murder charge, it's the reasoning that the judge used. it appears that this judge believes it was all a mistake. believes that oscar pistorius thought that reeva was still in bed. that's right. and as a result, that this all was a horrible, horrible mistake. that, to me, when you look at the facts of this case, is the most significant thing that this judge found, and that led to the ruling. >> basically