A new book has been released in South Africa with details of the night Charlize Theron’s father died, including the then 15-year-old Charlize’s police statement. Author Chris Karsten has released a book titled Deadly Women: When Passion Turns To Blood and got his hands on police records that were apparently lost shortly after Charlize won her Oscar for Monster.

The statement by Charlize reads:

“I, Miss Charlize Theron, a 15-year-old white female of Plot 56, Third Avenue, Cloverdene, (of) Die Kruin High School, Johannesburg, Standard 8, hereby declare the following:

“My mother went to ask my father for the key. I could hear that he was aggressive towards her.

“I then heard my father’s brother, Danie Theron, ask him: ‘Why do you take shit from her?’

“Then someone banged on the kitchen door. I told my mom that it was my dad, and that I was afraid of him.”

Charlize then sketches the events immediately before the shooting.

Her mother opened the door to her father and they quarrelled about the security gate being locked.

Her statement reads: “My father said he would kill us with his shotgun. My mom said she was afraid that he really would kill us.

“The next moment I heard a number of shots being fired. I don’t know how many, and then I heard my mom screaming? hysterically.

“When I went into the passage, I saw my father’s brother, Danie Theron, standing in the passage.

“My mom was sitting in a corner of the bedroom. I ran to her and asked: ‘What happened?’

“My mother was crying and she said: ‘Charlize, I’ve shot them. I’ve shot them.’

“I can only state that my mother had not had any alcohol at any stage. She was sober.”

News24 - the excerpt from the book and Karsten’s interview are here.

Karsten says he obtained this statement through the police, and using the Access To Information Act. He is a journalist, this is his third book.

The book isn’t yet released internationally, and while Charlize and her mother Gerda have made no comment on the book, her father’s side of the family wanted the whole story told. They say that Charlize and Gerda had threatened to take the family to court if they spoke about it. This is probably part of the reason that Charlize told reporters about her mother killing her father herself, rather then leave it to be discovered. Karsten says he included the story because it was well-known, but he felt the whole story hadn’t been told.

The aim of the book is to encouage women in abusive relationships to leave before it ‘turns to blood’, and while Charlize’s story might have been included to lift sales, I think if the book does raise awareness of domestic violence it would be a good thing. Also, it is interesting that a police file that contains no great revelations has been hidden for so long. Is it because of Charlize’s celebrity, or the fact the judge never passed a definitive verdict on the case?

Note by Celebitchy: According to reports Charlize’s dad fired the shotgun first and her mom shot him in self-defense. He was said to have been a verbally abusive parent and an alcoholic, but Charlize said he was “a verbal abuser,” not a physical abuser. [Details from In Touch Magazine, print edition, December 10, 2007]

Charlize and her mother Gerda are shown at the Covenant House California Dove Awards on 5/7/04, thanks to PRPhotos.