Oscar Pistorius indicted on murder charges in killing of Reeva Steenkamp

Oscar Pistorius will return to court March 3 to face murder charges in the death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The former Olympian, a double amputee, appeared in a Pretoria courtroom earlier today where he was indicted on charges of premeditated murder. He will also be charged with illegal possession of ammunition.

Steenkamp died early in the morning of Feb. 14 from gunshot wounds fired through a locked bathroom door at the athlete’s mansion in a gated community.

Writes Maclean’s Jonathon Gatehouse:

Pistorius’s version is that he awoke in the dark, heard a noise and concluded that an intruder was in the house. Arming himself, he hobbled into the bathroom on the stumps of his legs, and when his shouts went unanswered, opened fire. It was only when he returned to the bedroom and noticed that his 29-year-old girlfriend was missing that the truth dawned.

The police contend it was premeditated murder.

“When you talk of intentional, it’s premeditated. Intentional. He wanted to do that,” prosecution spokesman Medupe Simasiku told the Associated Press on Monday. “In as far as a sound case, let the court decide on that. We believe it will go through in our favour.”

The prosecution’s charge sheet reveals that it has more than 100 witnesses it plans to call when the trial gets underway.

Today would have been Steenkamp’s 30th birthday. An uncle told British papers that the family planned to observe the day together in Port Elizabeth.

Related link: Oscar Pistorius — The strange and dangerous world of the blade runner