After arguably the legal shocker of the decade was handed down late last week, Oscar Pistorius now appears set to pen a book detailing his account of the events that concluding with him shooting and killing his then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his South African home.
Pistorius escaped conviction for premeditated murder on Friday, and was instead found guilty of culpable homicide for the shooting death of Steenkamp, who he believed to be a home intruder and fired at through a locked toilet door.
According to the 27 year-old Olympian and Paralympian’s manager Peet van Zyl, the months leading up to the trial were used to formulate proposals for the book. Van Zyl stated to The Observer, “He will write his own book. We’ve discussed it. We’ve talked about ideas and concepts. I’m not going to go into details now.“
The book could theoretically become a global bestseller, and would aid Pistorius in recouping the massive financial strain that mounting a defence for the case has taken on him. But that wouldn’t even go a little bit of the way towards allaying anyone’s trepidations that he’s cashing in on the tragic death of his girlfriend – an act that, let’s remember here, a court of law found that he perpetrated.
Pistorius has been bailed following the conviction, and will appear in court for sentencing proceedings beginning on October 13th. Some legal experts believe that he could be handed a suspended jail sentence, meaning not only will he walk free, but he will also be able to resume competing, potentially even able to gain an opportunity to run for South Africa in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Following the verdict, Reeva Steenkamp’s family expressed their dismay at the lenient conviction, and have since returned home to Port Elizabeth.
Photo: Stefan Heunis via Getty Images.
