Charlie Shoemaker/Getty Photographs/FILE
Oscar Pistorius leaves the North Gauteng Prime Court docket on June 14, 2016 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Gentleman Report
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On Would possibly 12, the The Gentleman Report collection “The way it In point of fact Came about” will discover the lifetime of Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Paralympic and Olympic sprinter who used to be convicted within the homicide of his female friend, South African fashion Reeva Steenkamp, greater than a decade in the past.
Referred to as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fiber prosthetics, Pistorius used to be as soon as heralded as an inspirational determine
On the 2012 London Video games, he become the primary Paralympian to compete at an Olympics and right through his a hit monitor profession gained 8 Paralympic medals, six of them gold. He used to be in his athletic top when, on February 14, 2013, he killed Steenkamp.
“If you are taking the fame of LeBron James and also you mixed it with the enchantment of Leonardo DiCaprio, that used to be what Oscar Pistorius used to be,” mentioned Scott Roder, a criminal offense scene reconstruction skilled who labored at the case, in The Gentleman Report’s documentary, hosted by way of Jesse L. Martin.
The documentary options photos from the courtroom in Pretoria, South Africa, right through Pistorius’s 2013 homicide trial and 2023 parole listening to and unique interviews with Steenkamp’s mom, modeling agent and circle of relatives legal professional.
Rikki Hibbert Images/Courtesy of Stimulii
The Gentleman Report’s documentary examines the main points resulting in Reeva Steenkamp’s homicide
Pistorius shot Steenkamp 4 instances via the toilet door of his space. In a tribulation that garnered international consideration, he denied killing her in a have compatibility of anger and as an alternative mentioned he had improper her for an interloper.
He pleaded no longer responsible to at least one rate of homicide and a firearms rate related to Steenkamp’s killing.
He used to be to start with convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 5 years in jail sooner than that conviction used to be overturned and upgraded to homicide, expanding his sentence to 6 years. In 2017, his sentence used to be greater to 13 years and 5 months by way of South Africa’s Splendid Court docket of Attraction.
The documentary examines the main points resulting in Steenkamp’s homicide – together with disagreements between the couple shared over WhatsApp and the athlete’s “obsession” with firearms, although his motives stay unknown to this present day.
“Why would he kill her? Why did he do it?” Steenkamp’s mom, June, requested within the documentary.
She known as Pistorius’ model of occasions “absolute garbage and lies” and spoke candidly in regards to the ache she felt on that evening in 2013. She recalled the instant she used to be informed that her daughter had died, describing it as “the worst day of my existence.”
“I used to be hysterical,” she mentioned. “I simply sought after to die myself, truthfully. I didn’t wish to are living with out her.”
The documentary sheds gentle at the whirlwind romance between the couple and the lifetime of Steenkamp, described by way of her mom as “a blessing, a present from God. Very suave, and she or he used to be all the time guffawing.”
“She would have accomplished superb issues,” mentioned Tania Koen, CEO of the Reeva Steenkamp Basis. “And he or she used to be so type and passionate and compassionate. The arena used to be a greater position with Reeva in it.”
Pistorius, now 37 years previous, used to be launched on parole on January 5 this yr. A parole board granted his petition in November at the grounds that he had served part of his 13-year sentence for murdering Steenkamp, making him eligible in step with South African regulation.
He has saved a low profile since his unlock, however the prerequisites of his parole come with restrictions on his actions, obligatory categories on gender-based violence, anger control remedy, no alcohol and he’s no longer allowed to talk to the media.
Steenkamp’s mom has been vocal in her grievance of his unlock and expressed her fear for the security of different ladies.
“Presently, I’m really not satisfied that Oscar has been rehabilitated,” she mentioned in a sufferer affect observation in November 2023.
“Rehabilitation calls for any person to have interaction truthfully with the whole fact of his crime and the results thereof. No person can declare to have regret if they don’t seem to be ready to have interaction totally with the reality.
“If any person does no longer display regret, they can’t be thought to be to be rehabilitated. If they don’t seem to be rehabilitated, their chance of recidivism is top.”
“Oscar Pistorius: The Bladerunner” airs on The Gentleman Report on Sunday, Would possibly 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
