--- title: Oscar Pistorius: The Trial and South Africa's Culture of Violence description: In March 2013, TIME took a deep look at the origins of the Pistorius case canonical: https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/ author: Andrew Katz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-11T14:44:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:07:50.894Z article:section: History og:title: The Oscar Pistorius Trial: How It Started og:description: In March 2013, TIME took a deep look at the origins of the case og:url: https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt288f73a699d17113/6986a2aee8524b30506049e7/1101130311_600.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: The og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Oscar Pistorius Trial: How It Started twitter:description: In March 2013, TIME took a deep look at the origins of the case twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt288f73a699d17113/6986a2aee8524b30506049e7/1101130311_600.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Oscar Pistorius Case: How It All Began > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Andrew Katz](https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Sep 11, 2014 2:44 PM UTC  The March 11, 2013, cover of TIME The March 11, 2013, cover of TIMECover Credit: PIETER HUGO / THE NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE  by [Andrew Katz](https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/)  ## Andrew Katz Sep 11, 2014 2:44 PM UTC The murder trial that transfixed the world for much of 2014 began drawing to a close on Thursday, as a South African judge found Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius “negligent” but [not guilty](http://time.com/3322880/oscar-pistorius-south-africa-murder-trial/) of murdering his girlfriend. Pistorius, 27, fired four shots into a bathroom at his Pretoria home in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, killing model Reeva Steenkamp, but based his defense on thinking she was an intruder. Global media relentlessly followed the case, which at times grew graphic and included a break so Pistorius’ mental health could be evaluated by experts. The judge is expected to issue a formal verdict on Friday, Sept. 12\. Pistorius can still be found guilty of culpable homicide, or murder without premeditation, and may face years in prison. Last March, _TIME_ featured Pistorius in a cover story about this tragic series of events — not just it’s beginning between Pistorius and Steenkamp, but also in terms of the place of violence in South African society. The relationship between that culture and the famous athlete is a meaningful one, Alex Perry wrote: --- > “” --- **_That March 11, 2013, story is now available free of charge in_** **TIME’** **_s archives. Click here to read it in its entirety:_**[Pistorius and South Africa’s Culture of Violence](http://time.com/3318830/pistorius/) _Read next:_ [_Oscar Pistorius Gets 5 Years for the Culpable Homicide of Reeva Steenkamp_](http://time.com/3527349/oscar-pistorius-reeva-steenkamp-culpable-homicide-sentenced/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/"},"headline":"The Oscar Pistorius Case: How It All Began","datePublished":"2014-09-11T14:44:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:07:50.894Z","description":"In March 2013, TIME took a deep look at the origins of the Pistorius case","url":"https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/","keywords":["South Africa","Crime","olympics","violence","verdict","oscar pistorius"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt288f73a699d17113/6986a2aee8524b30506049e7/1101130311_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Katz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/andrew-katz/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt288f73a699d17113/6986a2aee8524b30506049e7/1101130311_600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The","caption":"The March 11, 2013, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: PIETER HUGO / THE NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE","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/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3326931/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial-verdict-south-africa/","name":"The Oscar Pistorius Case: How It All Began"}}]}] ```