‘Blade runner’ Oscar Pistorius charged with girlfriend’s murder

Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius, South Africa's 'Blade Runner' national hero, was on Thursday charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who was shot inside his home in Pretoria.

Reeva Steenkamp, who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the pre-dawn hours in the house in a gated community, police said. A 9 mm pistol was recovered.

The court hearing was postponed until Friday to give forensic investigators time for their work, prosecution spokesman Medupe Simasiku said.

Police said Pistorius had recently faced "allegations of a domestic nature". Earlier, in 2009, he crashed a speed boat which he was piloting drunk, causing himself serious injuries. In a separate incident, police intervened after he quarrelled with a coal mining baron over a woman. He owned firearms and bragged about his shooting prowess on social media.

Hours before her death, Steenkamp, a leggy blonde model with a law degree, had tweeted that Valentine's Day should be "a day of love for everyone".

Steenkamp, one of FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for the past two years, was to give an inspirational talk at a school on Thursday morning. The next day she was going to wear black to protest the brutal rape and mutilation of a 17-year-old.

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