INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Oscar Pistorius To Be Released? Star Athlete Might Not Even Serve A Year For Girlfriend’s Death

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 01:58 PST, Aug 15, 2015

Oscar Pistorius will be a free man in a few days, despite international outcry. The backlash was inevitable.

The Olympic athlete known as “Blade Runner” will barely serve a year in jail despite committing an act that many consider to be cold-blooded murder. Oscar Pistorius shot then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a closed bathroom door. It’s a fact that Oscar never disputed.

It was why Oscar shot his girlfriend to death that became a hotly-contested matter in the South African court (and among members of the public). Oscar’s defensive team claimed that the fatal shooting was a tragic accident. Oscar Pistorius, they said, was a paranoid individual in constant fear for his life. During the trial, there were various testimonies that validated this fact.

Oscar Pistorius was a man obsessed with guns. He was constantly on the lookout and convinced that someone could break into his home. These feelings of helplessness and fear were allegedly amplified by the fact that Oscar Pistorius is disabled.

In the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, multiple neighbors testified that they heard arguing, a woman’s screams, and then gunfire. Some even suggested that they heard the woman’s screams as a gun was being fired, and then a chilling silence.

This was strongly countered by Oscar Pistorius’s defensive team. It was not a woman’s screams these neighbors heard, but Pistorius himself. According to Oscar’s version of events, he swore that there was an intruder in the home. He fired in self-defense and accidentally killed his girlfriend. Pistorius claimed that he thought Steenkamp was still in bed.

When all the evidence was presented to Judge Masipa, she opted to clear the celebrity athlete of murder charges. Instead, he was charged with culpable homicide and sentenced to five years.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there was always the possibility that Pistorius might not serve his full sentence. It was predicted he would serve as little as 10 months in jail. It seems, for now, that this prediction was correct.

According to the Telegraph, Oscar is getting out early because he qualifies for “correctional supervision.”

“Correctional supervision is usually given to offenders who commit serious crimes but are not deemed to be a danger to the community, and are not best-served by a long stretch in South Africa’s notoriously dangerous and overcrowded prisons.”

The now-28-year-old Pistorius is going home, where he will be electronically monitored. But Oscar Pistorius isn’t out of the woods just yet. The Independent reports that the state is working to overturn the ruling made by Masipa. There is no “double jeopardy” protection in South Africa.

The state’s appeal will be heard in November, and it will decide Pistorius’s fate once and for all. If the court rules in favor of the prosecution, Oscar Pistorius will head back to jail, where he’ll serve a minimum of 15 years.

[Image Credit: Herman Verwey/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images]

Share this article: Oscar Pistorius To Be Released? Star Athlete Might Not Even Serve A Year For Girlfriend’s Death
south africa oscar pistorius Reeva Steenkamp
More from Inquisitr