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”
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