Blade Runner Kills Girlfriend “By Accident”

Just when it appears that we have seen it all in terms of murder cases, along comes an international superstar sprinter with no legs who shoots his girlfriend to death while she is in his bathroom, and claims that it was an accident. You really can’t make this stuff up. Oscar Pistorius [26], a double-amputee nicknamed “the Blade Runner” for the carbon-fiber blades he uses, was granted bail Friday after an intense four-day hearing in a Pretoria, South Africa courtroom.

The South African hero gained national exposure when he became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 meters and 4 x 400 meters relay races at the 2012 Summer Olympics. With the world seemingly at his feet, no pun intended, Pistorious appeared to have it all. He had a model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp [29], he was an international star, and he had money. But that all changed earlier this month when police arrived at Oscar’s house and found his girlfriend Reeva dead in his bathroom.

Last Friday, Oscar Pistorius’s lawyer, Barry Roux, told the court that the Olympic star thought Reeva Steenkamp was a burglar when he shot her through the toilet door in the early morning hours of 14 February 2013. He also stated that his client was not a flight risk and should be granted bail. He denied the killing was premeditated murder or even murder at all. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel agrued that Pistorius has the “money, means and motive” to flee if given bail, and described how WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is just as well known but skipped bail by seeking refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy. Roux countered, stating that Pistorius can’t go anywhere unnoticed, noting “Those legs need maintenance and adjustment on a monthly basis.”

  

The exchange between Roux and Nel went on for some time. Finally, Judge Desmond Nair granted Pistorius bail, setting it at 1m rand (£73,000). He also ordered that the conditions of Pistorius’ bail are that he not return to Silver Woods estate (where the shooting took place), to report to a police station on Mondays and Fridays, and he is not allowed to drink alcohol. Many people are outraged that Pistorius has even been granted bail, given the nature of his story and the fact that his girlfriend is dead. Others claim that the prosecution will have a hard time trying to prove that Pistorius did not kill her by accident.

In any event, just when you thought that the story couldn’t get any stranger, it was announced this past Sunday that the runner’s older brother, Carl Pistorius, is being charged with culpable homicide (or the unlawful negligent killing) in the 2008 death of a woman whose motorcycle collided with his car. In a statement, Carl Pistorius’ attorney Kenny Oldwage said, “There is no doubt that Carl is innocent and the charge will be challenged in court.”

Meanwhile, friends of Reeva Steenkamp told ABC that her relationship with Oscar was seemingly healthy and normal, and they say that’s why it’s so hard for them to make sense of her death. Steenkamp’s ex-flatmate (Cyril Myers), however, revealed that she felt so “caged in” by an “impatient and moody” Pistorius in the early days of their relationship that he was forced to tell him to “back off.” And Steenkamp’s uncle told NBC that he couldn’t say whether Pistiorius killed her on purpose or not, but he did say that “no one in the family saw this coming.” Seemingly again alluding to their relationship as a good one, he stated that there “no forewarning” of this type of incident occurring. Oscar Pistorius’ trial is not likely to start anytime soon. It could be a year before the start of the trial and another year before a verdict is reached, making it two years before this case is even decided. His next court appearance is scheduled for 4 June 2013.