Oscar Pistorius
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Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (born 22nd November 1986) is a South African murderer and former Paralympic athlete.
Born with a congenital defect, both of Pistorius's legs were amputated, and he grew up with prosthetic legs. Despite this he entered the Paralympics and has won 30 medals in running events, including in non-disabled events, which he won a legal battle to be allowed to enter.
In 2013, Pistorius's girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, was discovered dead in Pistorius's house, having been shot four times. Pistorius admitted he shot her, claiming he mistook her for an intruder. Despite this. he was charged with murder and, after he was determined legally sane, convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years imprisonment. After Steenkamp's family appealed, Pistorius was placed under house arrest while a review board attempted to decide whether Pistorius's crime constituted murder. After it was decided that Pistorius had indeed murdered Steenkamp, his sentence was extended by a year. However, Steenkamp's family appealed again, claiming that the sentence wasn't long enough. This also succeeded, and he was sentenced to 13 years and five months.
Background of the murder edit
In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria. Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp four times, causing her death, but claimed that he mistook her for a possible intruder.
Pistorius's murder trial began on 3 March 2014, in the Pretoria High Court. On 20 May 2014, the trial proceedings were adjourned until 30 June to enable Pistorius to undergo psychiatric evaluation to establish whether he could be held criminally responsible for shooting Steenkamp. Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed to a request for the evaluation by prosecutor Gerrie Nel after forensic psychiatrist Merryll Vorster testified for the defence that she had diagnosed Pistorius with generalised anxiety disorder.
On 30 June 2014, the trial resumed after the evaluation reports said Pistorius could be held criminally responsible. The state prosecutor was quoted as saying, "Mr. Pistorius did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him not criminally responsible for the offence charged". The defense closed its case on 8 July and closing arguments were heard on 7 and 8 August.
On 12 September, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide and one firearm-related charge of reckless endangerment related to discharging a firearm in a restaurant. He was found not guilty of two other firearm-related charges relating to possession of illegal ammunition and firing a firearm through the sunroof of a car. On 21 October 2014, he received a prison sentence of a maximum of five years for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for the separate reckless endangerment conviction.