Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian who murdered his model girlfriend inside his home in 2013, was released on parole from a South African prison on Friday, serving only half his sentence.
The disgraced Olympian is expected to be driven directly to his uncle’s luxurious three-story mansion, where he will spend the rest of his parole.
The compound is equipped with armed guards, electronic defenses and several “attack dogs.
Pistorius had been serving his 13-year and five-month sentence for killing his girlfriend, model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp, 29.
The multi-gold medal Paralympic runner shot Steenkamp four times through a bathroom door on Valentine’s Day.
During his murder trial, which began in 2014, Pistorius claimed he mistook his girlfriend for a burglar while he used ammunition designed to inflict maximum damage to the human body.
He was initially sentenced in 2014 by a high court to 5 years in jail for culpable homicide.
The South African Supreme Court of Appeal later found Pistorius guilty of murder, a more serious charge in late 2015.
The Olympian was sentenced to six years in 2016 before prosecutors appealed again in 2017 saying it was too lenient of a sentence and more than doubled Pistorius’ jail time.
Pistorius was granted parole last November after a failed attempt earlier in the year in March and will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections.
Steenkamp’s mother, however, maintained her belief that Pistorius knowingly killed her daughter.
“I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” June Steenkamp said in a statement after Pistorius was granted parole on Nov. 24.
Known as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, Pistorius became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics when they were held in London in 2012.
As he is set to begin his parole, Pistorius was warned he could be an assassination target in retaliation for Steenkamp’s murder.