Olympic champion to murderer: Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Reeva Steenkamp's mother has questioned whether Oscar Pistorius' 'huge anger issues' were truly dealt with in prison. ITV News Correspondent Ellie Pitt has more

Words by Hannah Ward-Glenton, ITV News Producer

South African Paralympic and Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was convicted in October 2014 after being found guilty of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013.

After several appeals, Pistorius was sentenced to serve 13 years in prison.

Pistorius will now be released on parole on January 5, after serving more than nine years for the murder.

Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Pistorius rose to fame as the first double-leg amputee to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games when he ran in the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Pistorius, nicknamed "The Blade Runner," reached the semi-final of the 400 metres in London, and then won gold in the men's T42-T46 4x100 metres relay and in the T44 men's 400 metres.

The runner was seen as a role model for young athletes with disabilities, and he was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow for his "outstanding commitment to sport".

Oscar Pistorius started dating 29-year-old model and law student Reeva Steenkamp in December 2012.

What happened on Valentine's Day 2013?

Pistorius gave a detailed account of what happened on February 14, 2013 during one of his court hearings, as transcribed by CNN.

The athlete said he and Ms Steenkamp had dinner together at Pistorius' home in Pretoria, South Africa, before going to bed.

He described locking the bedroom door and taking off his prosthetic legs. He mentioned he had put a firearm under his bed earlier that evening.

"It was at this point that I heard a window open in the bathroom," Pistorius said. "It sounded like a... the window sliding open."

"That's the moment that everything changed. I thought there was a burglar that was gaining entry into my home.

"I think, initially, I just froze. I didn't really know what to do... Just as I left of my bed, I whispered for Reeva to get down and phone the police.

"It was at that point that I was just overcome with fear. And I started screaming and shouting for the burglar or the intruders to get out of my house. I shouted for Reeva to get on the floor. I shouted for her to phone the police.

"And then I heard a noise from inside the toilet that I perceived to be somebody coming out of the toilet. Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door."

Pistorius then described how he couldn't find Ms Steenkamp, retrieved his prosthetic legs and broke into the locked bathroom to find his girlfriend bleeding on the floor.

"Reeva had already died as I was holding her, before the ambulance arrived, so I knew that there was nothing that they could do for her," he told the hearing.

Pistorius said he then carried Ms Steenkamp downstairs before calling a neighbour, an ambulance and the estate's security. Ms Steenkamp was dead before paramedics arrived.

What happened to Pistorius next?

Pistorius vehemently denied murdering Ms Steenkamp and was originally convicted of culpable homicide – a charge comparable to manslaughter – on September 12, 2014 and sentenced to a maximum of five years.

During court proceedings witnesses also said Pistorius had discharged a firearm at a restaurant in Johannesburg and then asked friends to cover up his involvement. The incident allegedly happened a month before Ms Steenkamp was killed.

Pistorius was released on parole in October 2015 and kept under house arrest. That December the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned his homicide conviction and found him guilty of murder instead.

He was sentenced to six years in July 2016, prompting prosecutors to appeal what they saw as a "shockingly" lenient sentence.

The athlete's prison time was then more than doubled to 13 years and five months in November 2017 after the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the appeal.

What have Steenkamp's family said?

In the months after Steenkamp's death her parents, June and Barry, spoke out about their grief.

"The question is why? Why did he shoot her? I want to know why he shot her because she must have been so afraid in that toilet [with] someone firing bullets at her," her parents said in a documentary aired by Channel 5 in June 2013.

Ms Steenkamp's family members continued to make statements to the press and at sentencing trials in the following years.

Her parents then revealed in 2021 that Pistorius had written to them once he was on parole.

"We don’t believe the story that he gave. We don’t know how it came to that. We want the truth," June Steenkamp said at the time.

Now that there's a date for Pistorius' release, Mrs Steenkamp said she would not oppose Pistorius' parole as she "cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage", and did not attend his hearing.

“I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” she said in a statement.

“In fact, I do not know anybody who does. My dearest child screamed for her life. ... I believe he knew it was Reeva.”

Reeva Steenkamp's father, Barry, died in September.

What's next for Pistorius?

While on parole, Pistorius, now 37, is expected to live at his uncle's mansion in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria, where he had stayed during his murder trial.

“Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires,” South Africa's Department for Correctional Services said.

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