The secret life of the Blade Runner

Oscar Pistorius, who became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes at last year's Olympic Games, has been charged with murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Source: Herald Sun

THEY seemed like a golden couple.

He was an Olympic champion, national hero and handsome millionaire who lived in a mansion.

She was a stunning model, TV star and law graduate.

International sports star Oscar Pistorius was an inspiration to millions when, on prosthetic legs, he became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes at last year's Olympic Games.

Blonde beauty Reeva Steenkamp was a rising star who in an interview just last week described her boyfriend as "an impeccable man who always had her best interests at heart".

But the man they called the "Blade Runner" lived a secret second life.

Inside his home in a prestigious gated community in the South African city of Pretoria, he kept a cache of high-powered weapons, despite hiring private guards and his house being surrounded by three-metre-high walls.

The extraordinary athlete who achieved greatness against the odds lived with a revolver by his bed and a machine gun by his window.

South African police say they have previously been called to his prestigious house in the Silver Lakes Golf Estate for domestic violence complaints.

But a tearful Pistorius was last night remanded in custody after being formally charged with the murder of his girlfriend.

Oscar Pistorius weeps as he faces court charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Picture: AP

Wearing a dark suit, tie and blue shirt, he broke down in the Pretoria Magistrates Court as magistrate Desmond Nair formally charged him with the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, 29.

Prosecutors say they will pursue a premeditated murder charge against Pistorius, 26, who stood with his face in his hands as he broke down in tears.

The magistrate delayed Pistorius' bail hearing to Tuesday and Wednesday, and ruled he be held at a Pretoria police station until then.

In a story as sad as it is shocking, 26-year-old Pistorius stands accused of shooting Steenkamp four times in the head, chest, mouth and hand.

News of the Valentine's Day tragedy has shaken the foundation of world athletics and dominated news bulletins around the globe.

His arrest has been felt nowhere more strongly than South Africa, where he had been considered a hero

Rather than starting his sporting year in Australia, where he was next month due to compete in able-bodied races in Sydney and Perth, the man they dubbed "the fastest man on no legs" could find himself languishing in the Pretoria Central Prison, where capital punishment was delivered in apartheid era South Africa and the prison gallows could hang seven people at a time.

Afrikaans-language newspaper Beeld last night carried the headline "dead behind the door", reporting Steenkamp was found by security guards in a bathroom where Pistorius had apparently shot her.

It said police and security guards were called to his mansion two hours before gunshots were heard with neighbours complaining about noise thought to have been an argument between the couple.

Reeva Steenkamp was a stunning model, TV star and law graduate.

Other local media said there were "splatters of blood in Pistorius' bedroom, and in other parts of his house" that were being combed by forensic experts.

A 9mm gun registered in Pistorius' name was removed from the scene by police in the South African provence of Gauteng.

Until yesterday, Pistorius was the feel-good story of world sport - the man born without a fibula in either leg who grew up walking on stumps then prosthetics after his malformed limbs were amputated.

A six-time Paralympic gold medallist who defied the doubters by qualifying for the 400m semi-final in London and ran for his nation in the 4x400m relay, he was named by Time magazine one of the world's 100 most influential people and carried the South African flag at the closing ceremony of the Games.

On February 1, Steenkamp took to social media to show her affection for the man she had been dating about three months.

"He's beautiful to look at & says some smart stuff too ;)," she tweeted.

Last weekend she reacted to the death of a 17-year-old gang-raped, murdered and mutilated at a construction site near Cape Town, by telling her online followers "Speak out against the rape of individuals in SA. RIP Anene Booysen."

The 30-year-old was this week due to speak at a university today about the empowerment of women.

But she may not have known her famous partner had an alleged past of temper, violence and a love of guns.

Oscar Pistorius taken into custody by police.

In November, he reportedly threatened to break the legs of the friend of a man he believed had slept with his ex-girlfriend.

London's Daily Mail yesterday reported Pistorius spent a night in police cells in 2009 after a woman complained to police he had assaulted her during a party at his house.

The incident allegedly occurred at the same Silver Woods home where Steenkamp died and, while Pistorius was charged with assault, he was eventually released with a warning.

Early reports suggested Pistorius could have mistaken Steenkamp for a house invader.

South Africa is a violent nation where carjackings, rapes, burglaries, muggings and home invasions are commonplace.

In November, Pistorius posted a message on Twitter saying: "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!"

But police late yesterday said Steenkamp's death was being treated as murder and there was only one suspect.

England's Sun newspaper reported there were two volleys of shots with neighbours reportedly hearing three gunshots, silence for 10 minutes, then three more shots.

The first blasts at 3am were accompanied by screams, before the silence, then another three shots.

South Africa's Sunday Times website last night reported police officers at the station he was taken to were furious at the preferential treatment Pistorius had received.

"He, like everyone here, is a suspect ... a criminal," it reported an officer as saying.

"This preferential treatment with his family being granted access to him stops now.

"Tonight he will eat the same food as his cellmates, sleep on the same mattresses and shower in the same area."

Pistorius - the first man to compete at both an Olympics and Paralympics - was taken into custody by police with his head lowered and face covered, wearing a silver tracksuit top and white pants.

He was taken to hospital for blood-alcohol tests and to have the skin scraped under his fingernails, standard procedure in South African law for people charged with such a serious offence.

His arrest has been felt nowhere more strongly than South Africa, where he had been considered a hero.

"Obviously we are shocked," his father, Henke Pistorius, said.

"He is with the police and the matter is in the hands of the authorities.

His brother, Carl, said his famous sibling was "very, very upset".

In better times, before the London Olympics, Pistorius posed for a stunning picture with a cheetah - the fastest animal on Earth - and looked every bit the flawless champion his fans believed him to be.

A popular Nike advertisement he made was accompanied with the ominous words: "I am the bullet in the gun."

Not surprisingly, all reference to the promotion had been pulled from websites linked to the global sporting giant yesterday.

- with wires

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