Oscar Pistorius granted parole 10 years after killing girlfriend

PRETORIA, South Africa — Double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole Friday, ten years after he shot his girlfriend through the bathroom door of his South African home in a murder that shook the world.

Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Pistorius would be released from prison on January 5. His release on parole will be subject to conditions, including that he not leave the Pretoria region where he must live without authorization from the authorities. Pistorius will also participate in a program to deal with his anger issues, Nxumalo said, and will be required to complete community service.

Pistorius’ parole conditions will be in force for five years, the Department of Correctional Services said.

“Parole does not mean the end of the sentence. It is still part of the sentence. It only means that the inmate will complete his sentence outside of a correctional facility,” Nxumalo said.

Pistorius, who turned 37 this week, has been in prison since late 2014 for the murder of model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, although he was released for a period of house arrest in 2015 as one of the many appeals in his case was heard. He was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison.

In South Africa, serious offenders must serve at least half their sentence to be eligible for parole, which Pistorius did.

Pistorius was at the height of his fame and one of the world’s most admired athletes when he killed Steenkamp. He shot her several times in the toilet of his Pretoria villa before dawn with his licensed 9mm pistol.

Friday’s parole hearing was Pistorius’ second in the space of eight months. He was wrongly found ineligible for early release at an initial hearing in March. This was due to an error made by an appeals court on the official start date of the sentence.

Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide – a charge comparable to manslaughter – for killing Steenkamp. That conviction was overturned and he was found guilty of murder after an appeal by prosecutors. They also appealed an initial sentence of six years for murder, and Pistorius was ultimately sentenced to 13 years and five months.

Pistorius testified at his murder trial that he killed Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom in the middle of the night when he shot four times through the door. Prosecutors argued that Steenkamp, ​​a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, fled to the toilet during a late-night argument and that Pistorius killed her in a rage.

Pistorius was ultimately convicted of murder based on a legal principle known as possible fraud, meaning he acted extremely recklessly and should have known that whoever was behind the door would likely be killed. This is comparable to third degree murder.

Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, ​​died in September. His mother, June Steenkamp, ​​did not oppose Pistorius’ parole.

Rob Matthews, a South African whose 21-year-old daughter was murdered in 2004 and who became a friend of the Steenkamp family, read a statement from June Steenkamp outside the prison before the hearing, in which she stated that she did not oppose his parole and did not attend the hearing because “I just can’t muster the energy to face him again at this stage”.

Still, “I don’t believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” June Steenkamp said in the statement. “Actually, I don’t know anyone who knew. My dearest child screamed for his life. …I think he knew it was Reeva.”

While on parole, Pistorius is expected to live in his uncle’s luxurious mansion in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria, where he stayed during his murder trial.

Pistorius was first sent to Pretoria Central Prison, a notorious apartheid-era prison. He was transferred to the city’s Atteridgeville Correctional Center in 2016.

There have only been occasional glimpses of Pistorius’ life behind bars over the past decade. His father said he organized Bible classes for his fellow inmates, although there were also problems, including an altercation Pistorius had with another inmate on the prison telephone that resulted in him receiving medical care.

Steenkamp’s murder happened when Pistorius was at the height of his fame and just months after he became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. He was also a multiple-time Paralympic sprint champion and one of sport’s most marketable figures, having overcome the amputation of both his legs below the knee as a baby to run on specially designed carbon fiber blades .

At his sensational trial, prosecutors argued there was another side of Pistorius’ life that involved guns and angry confrontations with others. Pistorius was also found guilty of a second charge of recklessly shooting a firearm in a restaurant.