Oscar Pistorius released on parole — 11 years after girlfriend’s murder

Oscar Pistorius, the former South African Olympic and Paralympic star, has been released on parole. 

In a post on X on Friday, South Africa’s ministry of justice and correctional services announced that the 37-year-old is now at home.

On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, his girlfriend at the time.

He shot her multiple times through a bathroom door at his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

At the trial, Pistorius told the court that he had mistaken Steenkamp for a burglar.

In 2014, he was initially convicted of culpable homicide and given a five-year prison sentence.

A year later, the ruling was changed to six years and a murder charge by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The sentence was later increased to 13 years in 2017 after prosecutors established that the punishment was too lenient.

Pistorius’ sentence was slated to expire in 2029.

However, according to South African law, all offenders can be considered for parole once they have served half their total sentence.

Pistorius is a multiple Paralympic sprint gold medalist. He was born without fibulas, and both legs were amputated below the knees as a toddler.

He subsequently relied on prosthetics, which earned him the nickname “Blade Runner” and propelled him to global stardom.

Pistorius was also the first amputee to win a non-disabled world track medal after a silver in the men’s 4X400m race at the 2011 World Athletics Championship.

A year later, he became the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics.