From ABC News:
A South Africa magistrate has charged Olympian Oscar Pistorius with a Schedule 6 offense, meaning that the alleged murder of his girlfriend was preplanned or premeditated.
Pistorius, a double-amputee who gained worldwide fame for running on carbon-fiber blades, allegedly shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, four times at his gated home in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 14. South African prosecutors laid out part of their case against the 26-year-old athlete at today’s bail hearing.
“[Pistorius] shot and killed an innocent woman,” Gerrie Nel, the senior state prosecutor, said in court, adding that there is “no possible explanation to support” the notion that Pistorius thought Steenkamp was an intruder.
Look for the “‘Roid Rage” defense:
Steroid abuse may have been linked to everything from liver failure to impotence and back acne to baldness — but it’s far-fetched to suggest ‘roid rage led “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius to kill his model girlfriend last week.
South Africa police who searched the Olympian’s home after Reeva Steenkamp’s death reportedly found a stash of steroids, and investigators have theorized the drugs may have made Pistorius more aggressive before Steenkamp was slain at his home on Thursday. Investigators have reportedly even asked for Pistorius’ blood to be tested for the muscle-building drugs.
Steroids experts, however, say that theory doesn’t have much muscle.
“No question, anabolic steroids at certain dosages can increase aggressiveness in a miniscule number of people,” said Norman Fost, the director of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. “But there is no evidence that steroids make you use a gun on someone.”Read more: