Oscar Pistorius: The Bladerunner special digs into the Olympian's shocking crimes

“If you take the celebrity of LeBron James and you combined it with the appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio, that was what Oscar Pistorius was,” said Scott Roder, a crime scene reconstruction expert who appears in tonight's episode of the CNN documentary series, How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin.

Airing Sunday, May 12 at 9pm Eastern Time on CNN, "Oscar Pistorius: The Bladerunner" special will explore the life of the double-amputee Paralympic and Olympic sprinter, who made history at the 2012 London Games as the first Paralympian to compete at an Olympics, but made even more headlines after being convicted in the murder of his girlfriend, South African model Reeva Steenkamp, more than a decade ago.

"The shocking shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp at the hands of Olympic superstar and convicted murder Oscar Pistorius on Valentine’s Day of 2013 pulled the curtain back on the storybook romance of a celebrated Hollywood couple. It started as a charming love affair between a world-famous athlete and a fashion model and ended with four hollow-point bullets through the bathroom door," reads the official synopsis of the hourlong special. "This episode of How It Really Happened investigates whether this was a terrible accident, or a callous murder. Did Pistorius shoot Steenkamp mistaking her for a home invader, or did he intentionally shoot to kill?"

The documentary features footage from the court in Pretoria, South Africa, during Pistorius’s 2013 murder trial and 2023 parole hearing, and original interviews with Steenkamp’s mother, modeling agent and family attorney. It also examines details leading to Steenkamp’s murder, including tumultuous messages shared between the couple over WhatsApp and the athlete's reported "obsession" with firearms.

To tune in to the "Oscar Pistorius: The Bladerunner" episode of How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin, you will need access to CNN. The cable news network is available on most traditional cable TV providers, as well as live TV streaming services like Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. Tonight's special will also be available on demand to pay-TV subscribers on CNN.com and CNN connected TV and mobile apps beginning Monday, May 13. Past episodes of How it Really Happened are available to stream on demand now on Max.