Oscar Pistorius has been freed from prison after spending less than nine years behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The former Paralympic star, 37, fired four bullets at Reeva while she stood inside a locked toilet at his Pretoria home, striking her in the head and body, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
He became eligible for parole halfway through his sentence, which was ultimately set at 13 years and five months after his manslaughter conviction was upgraded to murder in 2016.
Having now spent a little over 3,100 days inside, he will swap a specially-adapted cell for a cottage at his uncle’s £2 million three-story mansion in the city’s affluent Waterkloof suburb.
Tycoon Arnold Pistorius, Oscar’s uncle, is reported to have hired armed guards with attack dogs and fitted the complex with razor wire and electric fences amid fear of possible reprisals.
His nephew will be constantly monitored by officials until his full sentence ends in December 2029.
Pistorius had his lower legs amputated as a baby but rose to win two golds and a silver at the 2012 London Paralympics before inspiring millions by going on to compete in the Olympics.
The crime shocked South Africa and the world, and more than a decade on the most vital question remains unanswered – did the ‘Blade Runner’ know who he was shooting at?
Pistorius has always claimed he mistook Reeva for an intruder. Her family believe he intended to kill the 29-year-old model and law graduate after an argument.
The only person who knows – and likely ever will – is the man himself.
He was found guilty on a principle of law called dolus eventualis, meaning he knew the person he was aiming at would likely be killed when he opened fire at the bathroom door – it just did not establish who he thought that person was.
