Early in the morning on February 14, 2013 Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius, in his home in Pretoria, South Africa. Steenkamp was a successful model, having been featured on several magazine covers and as the face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. She was 29 when she died. Her death received a great deal of attention due to her boyfriend’s celebrity status. At the time, Pistorius, a double amputee, was a leading South African runner that had competed in several Paralympics as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics.
South African prosecutors charged Pistorius with three counts of firearm related offenses as well as premeditated murder. Premeditated murder is the most serious murder charge under South African law, carrying with it a mandatory life sentence with parole first available after 25 years. While premeditated murder lacks a clear definition under South African law, the charge suggested that the prosecution believed Pistorius knew exactly what he was doing. On the other hand, Pistorius and his attorneys maintained that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and had shot her accidentally.
The trial persisted over the course of seven months before Judge Thokozile Masipa made her rulings on the 11th and 12th of September this year. Pistorius was declared not guilty of either premeditated murder or murder, but rather was guilty of culpable homicide, as well as one of the three firearm charges levied against him. Judge Masipa explained that although Pistorius was a “poor witness,” the prosecution had not done enough to prove that Pistorius had planned on killing Steenkamp, and therefore she felt it necessary to assign the lesser charge.
Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for culpable homicide and received a three year suspended sentence on the firearm charge. There is however, some discrepancy as to how much time he will actually serve in jail. Prosecutors claim that the law requires Pistorius to serve at least one-third of his term, 20 months before being allowed to return home to finish his sentence under house arrest. Pistorius’s lawyer, who has been backed by some South African legal experts, asserts that Pistorius is only required by law to serve one-sixth of his sentence in prison before returning home, meaning he could be out as early as next August.