Media MonsterPolice Blotter

Oscar Pistorius, That Guy Who Inspired You During The Olympics, Is Charged With Murdering His Girlfriend

So. Oscar Pistorius. Remember him? The South African runner with specially-designed blades for legs who ran at the Olympics – not just the Paralympics, but the regular Olympics – becoming a bit of a media sensation in the process? (We did our own small part to contribute to this, by the way.) The story was irresistible – guy with no legs is an Olympian runner, come on – as was his nickname: Blade Runner. Even that Paralympics controversy was a minor hiccup – for most, the enduring image of him would be “that awesome guy from the Olympics.”

Uh, until now. Because now, this has happened:

South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is facing a murder charge after his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead at his home in Pretoria.

[...]

The precise circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear. Some reports said that Mr Pistorius may have mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder.

But police said they were “surprised” to hear reports that the deceased had been mistaken for a burglar.

Re: the “mistaken for an intruder” thing, it didn’t take long for this couple-months-old tweet to surface:

Nothing like getting home to hear the washing machine on and thinking its an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry! waa

— Oscar Pistorius (@OscarPistorius) November 27, 2012

Additionally:

[Police] added that there had been previous incidents at the address and described them as “allegations of a domestic nature.”

A lot’s unknown here. Pistorius is charged, not convicted. The story of what exactly happened is unclear. But it is clear that Reeva Steenkamp is dead, whatever did happen was ugly, and a narrative – no matter how enticing – is just a narrative. See a policewoman report on the incident below.

Photo via Getty