AP: South African Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius granted parole, will be released from prison on Jan. 5

[Cooked Crack]

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Double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole Friday, 10 years after shooting his girlfriend through a toilet door at his home in South Africa in a killing that jolted the world. He will be released from prison on Jan. 5, but will be constantly monitored by parole officials for five years until his sentence expires, the Department of Corrections said. 

 

Pistorius’ parole will come with other conditions, Department of Corrections spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo said outside of the prison where Pistorius has been incarcerated in the South African capital, Pretoria. 

 

Pistorius will not be allowed to leave the area of Pretoria where he is set to live without permission from authorities. He will also attend a program to deal with anger issues and another program on violence against women. He will have to perform community service.

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Pistorius will not wear a monitoring bracelet as that is not part of South African parole procedure, Nxumalo said. Pistorius’ sentence will expire on Dec. 5, 2029. 

 

The decision to grant parole was made at a hearing at the prison earlier Friday. 

 

Pistorius, who turned 37 this week, has been in jail since late 2014 for the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing of model Reeva Steenkamp, although he was released for a period of house arrest in 2015 while one of the numerous appeals in his case was heard. He was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison.

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Serious offenders in South Africa must serve at least half of their sentence to be eligible for parole, which Pistorius has done. 

 

Pistorius was at the height of his fame and one of the world’s most admired athletes when he killed Steenkamp. He shot her multiple times in the bathroom of his Pretoria villa in the predawn hours with his licensed 9mm pistol.

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Rob Matthews, a South African man whose 21-year-old daughter was murdered in 2004 and who became a Steenkamp family friend, read out June Steenkamp’s statement. She said she was not opposing Pistorius’ parole and didn’t attend the hearing because “I simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage.”  Nevertheless, “I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” June Steenkamp said in the statement. “In fact, I do not know anybody who does. My dearest child screamed for her life. ... I believe he knew it was Reeva.” 

 

While out on parole, Pistorius is expected to live at his uncle’s luxurious mansion in a wealthy Pretoria suburb, where he stayed during his murder trial.

https://apnews.com/article/oscar-pistorius-parole-prison-shooting-fb0ea8f28f786f6b91fb93b85ab0d315

 

Cot damn. If you want to commit murder do it in South Africa it seems.

[Larry]

Sounds like a flight risk. 

 

(Sorry. I had to.)

[skinsmarydu]

There's a 2-hour doc about the whole thing, I've seen it a couple times...I think it's on oxygen.com. 

[The Sisko]

The initial sentence was ridiculous but this makes it even worse. He deserved to spend at least 20 years in prison, if not life.

[Rocky21]

10 years for murder?  Wow.