(NBC NEWS) PRETORIA, South Africa – Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was loaded into an armored van and taken to prison on Tuesday after a judge sentenced him to five years for the Valentine’s Day killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said the sentence, which followed the athlete’s conviction for culpable homicide, was “fair and just both to society and to the accused.”
The so-called “Blade Runner” – who also was handed a three-year suspended sentence for a firearms offense – showed little emotion but wiped a tear from his eye after the ruling. He then was led down to a holding cell for the first time, having spent the duration of his trial on bail, and later loaded into an armored police van for the journey to prison.
