Among all the stories about what a verbally and physically abusive piece of trash Mel Gibson is, this particularly resonated with me. Radar Online is reporting that Mel Gibson may have hired “private investigators” to visit and intimidate witnesses who were prepared to testify on behalf of his estranged girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. As Radar explains, this sheds light onto the reasons why Oksana’s dentist may have changed his tune about her abuse. (He gave contradictory statements about it to TMZ.)

In a bombshell twist in the scandal, multiple sources have confirmed to RadarOnline.com that Mel’s camp had two private investigators visit at least two star witnesses, who are poised to provide evidence against the Oscar-winning actor/director about the January 6 brawl.

Oksana has told cops investigating the Lethal Weapon star he punched her twice in the face, leaving her with two broken veneers and a concussion.

RadarOnline.com learned that one of the witnesses who was visited by Mel’s private eyes was Oksana’s dentist, Dr. Ross Sheldon.

“This calculated ploy explains the conflicting stories the dentist supposedly made about the injuries Oksana suffered at the hands of Mel,” said a source, with intimate knowledge of the case.

Dr. Sheldon had reportedly privately declared the Russian musician, 40, had no swelling or bruising and there was no evidence of a strike to the mouth, despite photos — seen exclusively on RadarOnline.com — appearing to prove otherwise.

Complicating matters, the comments were in direct contrast to what the dentist said in a declaration to the court, that he believed Oksana suffered injuries from being struck twice, once in the side of the head and once in the mouth.

“Oksana’s camp believe Mel’s private eyes visited the dentist with a clear intent to make a forceful impression,” said the source.

Was it an intimidation tactic?

The source said: “If a level of doubt was created in regards to the dentist’s view about Oksana’s injuries, he could be considered someone who is not a credible witness.

“Mel’s lawyers could easily mount an argument against the dentist: on one hand, Dr. Sheldon protested one statement in a declaration to the court yet, here he was quoted supposedly having an opposing view.”

Despite his apparent conflicting stories, Dr. Sheldon has insisted he is willing to go on record stating that Oksana did indeed suffer a major blow to her mouth.

The dentist’s alleged statement backtracking on Oksana’s injuries was leaked to a Web site. But that Web site was later forced to retract the report after a lawyer representing the dentist made it clear the statements attributed to him were inaccurate.

Two private detectives visited the home of a second witness, RadarOnline.com has also learned.

[From Radar Online]

I love how Radar Online doesn’t name TMZ and just calls them a “website,” just as TMZ never gave credit to Radar when the ran all the tapes of Mel ranting like a lunatic. Obviously there’s some rivalry there.

Witness tampering is incredibly serious and if this is true and Oksana’s people can prove it, it may be much more damning to Mel’s case. I wouldn’t put it past this guy given everything we’ve seen from him so far.

Meanwhile Mel has still not been deposed in his domestic abuse case against Oksana. He missed a scheduled deposition last Friday as he was out of the country reportedly fishing with a couple of his sons. TMZ, which used to be Mel’s mouthpiece but seems a little less biased at this point, reports that he’s “going great lengths to avoid sitting for his deposition.” They claim he’s going to take the 5th and not testify, when it comes to that. The case should be turned over to the District Attorney in about two weeks.