South African Athlete Arrested For Murder

 

Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympian sprint champion known to the world as the “Blade Runner”, has been arrested and charged with murder after the body of a dead woman was found at his home in South Africa.

The woman has been identified by local media as glamour model Reeva Steenkamp who was believed to romantically involved with the athletics star. The 30-year-old was found dead after police were called out to Silverwoods Country Estate outside Pretoria. She was shot four times with a handgun, according to police sources.

South African police have not formally identified either the arrested man or the dead woman.

"We found a 9 mm pistol at the scene. A 26-year-old man was taken into custody," police spokeswoman Katlego Mogale said.

Initial speculation suggested that the woman may have been shot after surprising her boyfriend on Valentine's day but police said the shooting was being treated as a murder investigation and said there had been previous incidents at the address described as "allegations of a domestic nature". The Silverwoods "security estate" has an electrified three-metre security wall, guards and strict entry provisions.

Brigadier Denise Beukes also said police were "very surprised" by the burglar suggestion, telling reporters near the scene: "These allegations did not come from us."

Brigadier Beukes said Pistorius will be appearing in court this afternoon and bringing a formal bail application.

Confirming there had been previous "incidents" at the athlete's home, she said: "I can't confirm that it's related to the person that's arrested but I can confirm there has previously been incidents at the home of Mr Oscar Pistorius."

She said these were "allegations of a domestic nature".

She said there was no signs of forced entry at the address.

And asked about speculation the victim may have been mistaken for a burglar, she said: "The South African Police Service were just as surprised this morning to hear over the radio that allegations had been made that the deceased had been perceived to be a burglar.

"We were very surprised and those allegations did not come from us."

The officer said Pistorius was co-operating with police.

There had been speculation the shooting may have been a Valentine's Day surprise gone wrong. Miss Steenkamp, described in her Twitter biography as a model, cover girl and law graduate, had tweeted about Valentine's Day yesterday, writing: "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? £getexcited £ValentinesDay".

Pistorius, 26, appeared to have serious concerns about his safety and was said to sleep with a revolver by his side.

A journalist from the Daily Mail who interviewed Pistorius last summer noted: "This being South Africa, one baseball bat and one cricket bat lie behind Pistorius's bedroom door. A revolver is at his bedside. A machine gun by his window."

Pistorius's father said his son was "sad" following the shooting.

Henke Pistorius told SABC radio news: "I don't know nothing. It will be extremely obnoxious and rude to speculate. I don't know the facts.

"If anyone makes a statement, it will have to be Oscar. He's sad at the moment."

The 26-year-old runner, who had his legs amputated below the knees as a young boy after he was born without fibulas, won international admiration through his battle to compete with able-bodied athletes.

After winning repeated Paralympic titles Mr Pistorius, who runs on prosthetic extensions known as blades, won the right to compete at last year's Olympics.

After failing to win one of the London Paralympics events for which he was favourite he surprised sports fans with an angry outburst against the Brazilian runner who had beaten him, questioning whether he had used longer blades and gained an unfair advantage.

Beyond his heoric track image Mr Pistorius has been a regular in the society and gossip pages of the South African media. Soon after his return from London he was embroiled in a row over a young woman with businessman Quinton van der Burgh. The athlete is alleged to have threatened to break the man's legs and then lodged a police complaint after a friend of Mr van der Burgh allegedly threatened him in return.

There has been keen speculation in the local media over Mr Pistorius' romantic life since ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, also a model, gave several interviews saying the couple had broken up. The runner was seen at several events with Ms Steenkamp who told reporters she was seeing Mr Pistorius.

The model who is listed by men's magazine FHM among the “sexiest 100 women” in the world was quoted in last weekend's South African Sunday Times, saying that Mr Pistorius was “impeccable” and “thoughtful”