Photo by ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Crime is Slate’s crime blog. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @slatecrime. 
 
 Back in February, before the Tsarnaevs and Ariel Castro came into our lives, it looked like the Oscar Pistorius case was going to be the crime story of the year. You'll remember the basics: Pistorius, the double-amputee South African sprinter dubbed "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fiber prostheses, was arrested this February and charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend, model and law student Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius claimed that he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar, an alibi that was far from ironclad. Some South African cities are rife with property crimes, yes, but Pistorius was also an enthusiastic gun owner with an aggressive streak who had been accused of violence against women. He also shot Steenkamp through the closed bathroom door, which is, at the very least, extraordinarily reckless behavior. 
 
 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 Is Pistorius a murderer? A long new Vanity Fair piece fills in a lot of details about the saga and its major figures, but doesn’t come all that close to answering that question. The story, by the excellent Mark Seal, is not kind to Pistorius. The athlete is depicted as an aggressive narcissist addicted to caffeine pills and energy drinks, a thrill-seeking womanizer who let fame go to his head and used foul language around children while training at the gym. After the London Olympics and all the attendant publicity, Seal reports, his behavior only got worse: 
 
 “He was bragging about his adventures in the good life,” a former confidant told me. “He was like, ‘I’m the man, I’m Oscar. The world owes me.’ That sense of entitlement. He wasn’t like that; he was made into that.” His friends, the confidant continued, changed from “the good old lads” to “the Southern Jo’burg tattooed skinhead-gang type. He surrounded himself with people who used violence and rage as an outlet for whatever you feel. God forbid, I didn’t see it going to this point. But I knew something was going to crack.” Even Gianni Merlo, the Italian journalist who helped Pistorius write his autobiography, wondered, “Have we unwittingly cultivated a monster?” 
 
 After reading Seal’s piece, I’m convinced that Oscar Pistorius is kind of a jerk. But while the piece definitely nudges the reader toward the conclusion that he murdered Steenkamp, it hasn’t cleared up all reasonable doubt. Lots of athletes and high-achieving people are aggressive jerks. But from where I’m sitting, it’s still possible that the jittery, aggressive Pistorius believed he was shooting at a burglar. Pistorius is a guy who, as I wrote in February, once tweeted about mistaking his noisy washing machine for a burglar. The Times of London reported on Pistorius’ “excess energy,” how he struggled to fall asleep. “He told the New York Times that when a house security alarm went off recently, he grabbed the gun he kept by his bed and crept downstairs. It turned out to be nothing,” the paper reported. Pistorius seems like exactly the sort of person who might shoot first and ask questions later. 
 
 One of Seal’s main sources is Hilton Botha, the police detective who offered inconsistent testimony during Pistorius’ bail hearing, and who has since resigned from the force. Botha’s credibility was further damaged when it came out that he was himself facing charges of attempted murder. (Botha explains away those charges near the end of the story—he was merely shooting at the tires of a taxi that had forced his police car off the road, he tells Seal.) Botha’s bid at redemption here comes across as self-serving and unconvincing. It would’ve been nice if Seal had found some other police source to back up Botha’s characterization of the evidence against Pistorius—he argues that the angle of the bullet holes in the bathroom door and the placement of the bullet casings in the bathroom prove that Pistorius shot from close range with his prosthetic legs on—as well as Botha’s characterization of himself as a good cop. If you believe Botha, then there’s no way Pistorius didn’t do it. But I’m not as sure as Seal seems to be that we should trust Botha. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PRETORIA, South Africa — It was bold, splashy and theatrical, the kind of flourish more often seen in courtroom dramas than in real-life murder trials. In the middle of his emotional and harrowing testimony on Tuesday, the champion sprinter Oscar Pistorius stood up in full view of the packed courtroom, removed his prosthetic legs and demonstrated in a few ungainly steps how very vulnerable and exposed he can be with only his stumps to depend on. 
 
 The moment came on a grueling day in which a shaky, tearful Mr. Pistorius for the first time gave a full account of what he says happened the night he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. And it went toward bolstering the case the defense is trying to make: that Mr. Pistorius, the world’s most celebrated disabled athlete, is at the same time an anxious and physically fragile man who sprayed bullets through the door of his bathroom in a panic because he believed someone had broken into his house. 
 
 “I was overcome with fear,” he said of the moment he says he heard noises coming from outside his bedroom early on Feb. 14, 2013. “I started screaming and shouting for the burglars to get out of my house. I shouted for Reeva to get on the floor. I shouted for her to phone the police.” 
 
 Photo 
 
 The trial has dominated the news here in South Africa. Born without fibulae, bones that connect the knee to the ankle, Mr. Pistorius lost his lower legs to amputation when he was a baby, but with his talent, perseverance and charm went on to become a bona fide South African hero. An inspirational sprinter who scooped up medals in able-bodied as well as disabled competitions, he carried the flag for South Africa at the closing ceremony in the 2012 Olympics in London. 
 
 In addition to the attention surrounding a trial involving a high-profile star athlete, the case has raised other issues: about South Africa’s gun culture; about the country’s laws covering self-defense and its no-jury trial system; about the fear of violent crime that many people here say they always carry with them; and about how women are treated by handsome and seemingly entitled celebrities like Mr. Pistorius. The trial, which began nearly a month ago and is expected to last into May, is receiving gavel-to-gavel coverage, with its own dedicated cable channel and all-day radio program. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 By Mr. Pistorius’s account, Feb. 13, 2013, had been a routine evening in his fledgling romance with Ms. Steenkamp, 29, a law graduate and model he had met several months earlier and with whom he said he was “besotted.” The two had eaten dinner together at Mr. Pistorius’s house in a gated Pretoria development and then gone upstairs to his bedroom. There they whiled away the evening texting, surfing the Internet, watching television and chatting before eventually falling asleep. 
 
 In earlier testimony, Mr. Pistorius, 27, read through an almost numbing litany of text messages he had exchanged with Ms. Steenkamp, replete with endearments and emoticons. That was part of the defense’s effort to establish that contrary to the prosecution’s account, the pair had a loving and supportive relationship, one that had weathered earlier disagreements and had reached the point where they could relax happily together at his house. 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 The night was hot and muggy, Mr. Pistorius testified, and his air-conditioning was not working. He woke up in the middle of the night, spoke to Ms. Steenkamp, who he said was also awake, and then — without turning on the lights or putting on his prosthetic legs — went to the balcony next to his bedroom to move the electric fans he had set up there, he said. 
 
 Continue reading the main story Video 
 
 Then, he says, he heard a noise, and the mundane turned to the horrifying. 
 
 “My lady, that’s the moment that everything changed,” he told Judge Thokozile Masipa, his voice faltering and fading in and out of audibility. “I thought that a burglar had entered my home. Initially I froze. I didn’t know what to do. The first thing that ran through my mind is that I needed to protect myself,” he said, “that I needed to protect Reeva and I.” 
 
 Mr. Pistorius is accused of murdering Ms. Steenkamp by shooting her four times in a fit of violent rage as the two argued late into the night. If convicted of the most serious of the charges against him, he faces at least 25 years in prison. 
 
 He contends that there was no argument at all, that it was a tragic mistake, that he grabbed his gun from under the bed and went down the hall in search of the intruders. By his account, he believed that Ms. Steenkamp had remained in bed, in their dark bedroom, because he had spoken to her before getting up and that she failed to respond to his screams because she feared for her own safety from intruders. 
 
 But it was tough going. Even under the mildest of questioning by his own defense lawyer, Barry Roux, Mr. Pistorius stuttered, paused, cried, lowered his voice to a whisper and at times could barely maintain his composure. And when he got to the crucial part of his story — the part where he fired through the bathroom door, believing himself in danger, only to discover Ms. Steenkamp’s blood-spattered body inside a few moments later — he began weeping. 
 
 Continue reading the main story Video 
 
 “I was just panicked at this point,” he said, describing how he had taken the cricket bat he kept in his bedroom and used it to batter down the locked door. “I don’t think I’ve ever cried like that or screamed like that. I was crying out for the Lord to help me. I was crying out for Reeva.” 
 
 After bashing the door open, he said, he sat over Ms. Steenkamp’s body. “I sat over Reeva and I cried,” he said — for how long, he cannot remember. “She wasn’t breathing.” 
 
 At that point in his testimony he broke down completely, and could not go on. 
 
 The court took a hasty break, and Mr. Pistorius’s brother, sister and aunt gathered around the witness stand to comfort him. But his gasping sobs continued to reverberate through the quiet and shocked courtroom. The court was forced to adjourn early. 
 
 Mr. Pistorius has not yet finished his testimony. But his lack of composure on Tuesday does not augur well for how he will stand up under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, who is known for his aggressive, unforgiving questioning and his ability to break down witnesses. 
 
 “If he’s genuinely emotional, when he gets put under pressure he’ll be worse than he is now, and Nel will carve him up into little pieces,” said Martin Hood, a defense lawyer here. “If he is destroyed, his story is destroyed, and he’ll get convicted. But if his demeanor changes when he’s cross-examined and he becomes a stronger witness, then his credibility is also questioned.” 
 
 Mr. Hood said that Mr. Pistorius’s emotional unpredictability made him a tricky bet as a defense client, since lawyers need to know how clients will respond to questioning. And he said that until it is subject to rigorous scrutiny through cross-examination, Mr. Pistorius’s story remains just that: a story. 
 
 “Cross-examination is the single most important tool in getting to the truth of the situation,” Mr. Hood said. “It’s very easy to say it happened this way, but if you don’t test it, you’ll never know the truth.” ||||| Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic athlete currently on trial in South Africa for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, got into a fight in a nightclub on Saturday evening with a man who "aggressively engaged" him about the case. 
 
 The 27-year-old athlete's spokeswoman confirmed the altercation took place but insisted Pistorius had been sitting quietly in the VIP section of the club, in the upmarket district of Sandton in Johannesburg, when he was approached. 
 
 The man, named by South African news website The Juice as Jared Mortimer, claimed Pistorius was "drunk and very aggressive" and poked him in the chest while telling him "you'll never get the better of me". Mr Mortimer told The Juice he then pushed Pistorius, who fell over into a chair, at which point bouncers at the VIP Room intervened and the athlete left the nightclub. 
 
 Pistorius also insulted the family of the South African president, Jacob Zuma, upsetting Mr Mortimer, who is a friend of a member of Mr Zuma's family, according to Johannesburg's The Star newspaper. 
 
 The incident comes just days after Pistorius's trial for the murder of Steenkamp adjourned following the close of the defence case. The case will resume on August 7 for closing arguments, before the judge announces her verdict, which could carry a life sentence, on a date yet to be set. 
 
 The athlete shot Steenkamp through a locked lavatory door at his home in Pretoria on St Valentine's Day last year but claims he believed she was an intruder. The prosecution say he did so after an argument. 
 
 He has rarely been seen in public since shortly after the shooting when a visit to a restaurant in Johannesburg brought accusations that he had been "downing drinks and flirting with women". 
 
 During the trial, the court heard extracts of a psychologist's report which found the athlete suffered from post-traumatic stress and severe depression since the incident. 
 
 Psychologist Melissa Fernihough said Pistorius reported having become "a totally different person", who preferred to "isolate himself" and stay at home rather than see friends. 
 
 "He admitted that since the incident in question, he avoids socialising because of his low mood, his trial and the media scrutiny surrounding him," wrote in her report. 
 
 Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for Pistorius, confirmed he was at VIP Room with one of his cousins. 
 
 "They sat in a quiet area of the private VIP section when they were approached by the individual," she said. 
 
 "The individual in question, according to our client, started to aggressively engage him on matters relating to the trial. An argument ensued during which our client asked to be left alone. Oscar left soon thereafter with his cousin. Our client regrets the decision to go into a public place and thereby inviting unwelcome attention." 
 
 Mr Mortimer told The Juice he was introduced to Pistorius by a mutual friend, and that the athlete brought up Darren Fresco, a former friend who gave evidence for the prosecution at his trial about how he once fired a gun through a car sunroof during a day out. 
 
 "Oscar knew one of my friends and said, 'Oh, you are the infamous Jared Mortimer'," he told the website. "He immediately started talking about his friends and how they had backstabbed him. He mentioned Darren Fresco. 
 
 "He was going on about how influential his family is and how connected they are. He even pulled out his phone to show me pictures of armoured cars." 
 
 Mr Mortimer told the news website Pistorius poked him in the chest several times. "He said you'll never get the better of me. I'll always get the better of you," he is quoted as telling the publication. 
 
 South African news site Eyewitness News (EWN) reported that Mr Mortimer claimed Pistorius was drunk and had insulted him and his friends before poking him in the chest. 
 
 Mr Mortimer said he pushed Pistorius and he fell backwards on his feet and on to a chair. 
 
 According to EWN, bouncers intervened and stopped the brawl. 
 
 But officials from the club have denied the incident. 
 
 Spokesman Perry Mermigas admitted that Pistorius was at the club but said nothing out of the ordinary happened. 
 
 "We are not aware of this," Mr Mermigas told Sapa. 
 
 "(Pistorius) was there but there was no altercation and if there had been, we would have known about it," he said. 
 
 On Sunday, hours after the incident, the athlete broke his long silence on Twitter to post quotations from the bible and pictures of himself with disabled children. 
 
 The first tweet to appear on the account was an image of a section from Psalms 34:18 reading: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted". 
 
 The second was a collage of photographs of the athlete with disabled children, with an accompanying message that read: "You have the ability to make a difference in someone's life." 
 
 The third was an excerpt from the memoir of a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp who finds solace in his "utter desolation" by contemplating a picture of his "beloved". 
 
 On Monday morning, Pistorius posted another tweet to his 353,000 followers which showed the message "Lord I ask today that you bathe those who live in pain in the river of your healing" on the background of a misty river at dawn.
– Oscar Pistorius returns to court next month for his murder trial, notes the Huffington Post, and anyone interested in the case should make a new Vanity Fair piece required reading. The article by Mark Seal doesn't have any bombshell revelations on the main question—did the amputee Olympian murder girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a rage or, as he insists, mistake her for a burglar?—but it paints a more complete portrait of all the main players, including the detective convinced of the athlete's guilt, and recounts the night of the killing. Pistorius in particular comes off as an egomaniac with long-standing anger issues. "When Pistorius competed at the London Olympics, last summer, (a radio host) interviewed the athlete’s roommate at the Olympic Village: ‘What is it like to sleep in the same room with a superstar?’ And he said, ‘I moved out. Oscar is always shouting at people on the phone.’" A "former confidant" tells Seal that the Olympics changed Pistorius for the worse. “He was bragging about his adventures in the good life. He was like, ‘I’m the man, I’m Oscar. The world owes me.’ That sense of entitlement. He wasn’t like that; he was made into that." In subsequent training sessions at a gym, his “swearing would astonish the mothers and children also using the gym," says a reporter. “He would storm out of the gym midway through a workout. He would be surly, rude. It seemed as though he survived on energy drinks and caffeine pills.” Here's one assessment of the six-page article: "After reading Seal’s piece, I’m convinced that Oscar Pistorius is kind of a jerk," writes Justin Peters at Slate. "But while the piece definitely nudges the reader toward the conclusion that he murdered Steenkamp, it hasn’t cleared up all reasonable doubt." Read the Vanity Fair piece in full.