OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:11 PM – Friday, January 5, 2024
Oscar Pistorius, a former Olympic athlete from South Africa, was granted parole on Friday after spending almost nine years in prison for the 2013 Valentine’s Day shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Steenkamp was a 29-year-old South African model and paralegal who had a bright future ahead of her before her life was tragically cut short.
As a double-amputee runner competing against athletes without disabilities, Pistorius was previously lauded as an inspiration. However, he was now serving a 13-year term at the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria, South Africa.
There were few circumstances surrounding his release, but The Associated Press reported that the country’s Department of Corrections made the statement at about 8:30 a.m. local time.
In 2015, Pistorius was found guilty of murder and given a 13-year, 5-month jail term. In South Africa, serious offenders who have completed at least half of their sentence are thought of as eligible candidates for release as long as they have demonstrated “good behavior” while incarcerated.
According to the Department of Corrections at the time, Pistorius was granted parole on November 24th under certain restrictions, one of which was that he remain within the Pretoria region. AP News reported that he will reside at his uncle’s estate in the affluent Waterkloof neighborhood.
In addition, he will have to complete community service and attend a program to address anger management concerns. The terms of his parole will last for five years.
At his murder trial, Pistorius said that he “accidentally” murdered Steenkamp when he discharged his licensed 9mm handgun four times through the door of his bathroom in the middle of the night, allegedly mistaking her for a “dangerous intruder.” However, prosecutors maintained that Pistorius killed her in a fit of rage after she fled to the bathroom during a late-night argument.
“If she had never met Oscar, I imagine today Reeva would be happily married, a loving young mother with everything to live for, and a lot of cats and dogs, with maybe a horse or two,” said Steenkamp’s mother.
In regards to his girlfriend’s death, Pistorius was first found guilty of culpable homicide, which is the same as manslaughter. Nonetheless, after the prosecution filed an appeal, that conviction was reversed and he was found guilty of murder.
Additionally, prosecutors filed an appeal against Pistorius’s first six-year murder sentence, which resulted in a final 13-year, five-month jail term.
The South African Department of Corrections did not respond to requests for comment.
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