On September 12, 2014, South African track star Oscar Pistorius is found guilty of culpable homicide—a charge comparable to manslaughter—for killing his girlfriend, the model and reality television star Reeva Steenkamp. The conviction marks the culmination of a seven-month murder trial that drew huge international interest due to the couple’s celebrity status.
Pistorius, nicknamed the “Blade Runner,” gained worldwide notoriety when he became the first double-leg amputee to compete in the Olympics. He was selected for the 2012 South African Olympic team that would compete at the London Games, following a tremendous paralympic career in which he won eight Paralympic medals, six of which were gold. It was in the thick of this superstardom and at the height of his athletic career, that Pistorius’ life took a darker, more infamous turn.
On the morning of February 14, 2013, Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through the bathroom door of his home, killing her. At the ensuing trial, Pistorius claimed to have mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder and to have shot her in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that he had intentionally killed her in the heat of a passionate fight.
In 2015, prosecutors appealed his initial conviction of culpable homicide and an appeals court upgraded the conviction to murder. In 2016, Pistorius’ sentence was increased to 13 years and five months in prison. He was released on parole in January 2024.
