--- description: The double-amputee athlete is accused of murdering his girlfriend title: South Africa: Former Olympian Oscar Pistorius Pleads Not Guilty To Murder As Trial Opens on Monday image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb31f004ba961fc12/69868376cd804d0837cc981e/pistorius_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Africa](/tag/south-africa/) ## South Africa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pistorius Pleads Not Guilty During Murder Trial by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 10:40 AM CUT  Oscar Pistorius arrives in court ahead of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria Mar. 3, 2014 Oscar Pistorius arrives in court ahead of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria Mar. 3, 2014Reuters by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 10:40 AM CUT The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius commenced in South Africa’s Pretoria on Monday where the former Olympian plead not guilty to myriad charges being leveled against him, including murder. The double-amputee athlete is accused of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp during in the early hours of February 14 last year. According to Pistorius’s account, he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder, while prosecutors insist he intentionally shot her after an argument. The run-up to the trial has received massive media coverage in South Africa and the proceedings are being broadcast live. If convicted, the prosecutors have signaled that they would seek a life sentence. \[[AP](http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/mar/02/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-to-begin/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11210/pistorius-pleads-not-guilty-during-murder-trial/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11210/pistorius-pleads-not-guilty-during-murder-trial/"},"headline":"Pistorius Pleads Not Guilty During Murder Trial","datePublished":"2014-03-03T10:40:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:32:03.852Z","description":"The double-amputee athlete is accused of murdering his girlfriend","url":"https://time.com/11210/pistorius-pleads-not-guilty-during-murder-trial/","keywords":["South Africa","oscar pistorius","trial"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb31f004ba961fc12/69868376cd804d0837cc981e/pistorius_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Arrouas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michelle-arrouas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb31f004ba961fc12/69868376cd804d0837cc981e/pistorius_0303.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pistorius arrives in court ahead of his trial in Pretoria","caption":"Pistorius arrives in court ahead of his trial in Pretoria","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-africa/","name":"South Africa"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11210/pistorius-pleads-not-guilty-during-murder-trial/","name":"Pistorius Pleads Not Guilty During Murder Trial"}}]}] ```