OLYMPIC STAR OSCAR PISTORIUS SHOT HIS GIRLFRIEND - WAS IT AN ACCIDENT OR IS HE A MURDERER?

HIS CLOSEST FAMILY FRIEND SPEAKS OUT IN "48 HOURS: OSCAR PISTORIUS: SHOTS IN THE DARK"

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2014

Is Olympic star Oscar Pistorius a cold-blooded killer, or was the shooting death of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the middle of the night an accident? With the sprinter's fate resting in the hands of a South African court, 48 HOURS examines the emotional drama at the heart of the case in "Oscar Pistorius: Shots in the Dark," to be broadcast Monday, June 16, 2014 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The hour-long broadcast features the first American television interview with Pistorius' closest family friend and father figure, Mike Azzie, as well as original CBS News animations that bring to life the defense and prosecution cases for viewers and an interview with Francois van der Watt, the creator of Pistorius' famous racing blades - his prosthetic legs.

"Oscar is not a cold-blooded murderer," Azzie tells 48 HOURS.

"What happened was a tragedy. No one will ever know what was the cause of it or how it happened," Azzie says. "And he feels the family's pain. He genuinely feels pain for her family."

"Oscar Pistorius: Shots in the Dark," features reporting by correspondents Debora Patta, Peter Van Sant and Troy Roberts and is a comprehensive look at what has been called the South African trial of the century told through interviews with those who have covered the case, friends of the couple, and legal experts.

"It has everything," says Vanity Fair writer and 48 HOURS consultant Mark Seal. "It has drama, two young attractive people, the gun culture of South Africa, and of course, Oscar Pistorius, Olympic hero, a hero to all of South Africa, at its center."

"People are glued to this trial," says Jen Su, a South African talk show host and friend of Steenkamp and Pistorius.

Steenkamp was a beautiful South African model and reality show star. Pistorius was a double amputee who drew the world's attention via the Olympics and became a South African national hero. Then, on Feb. 14, 2013, Pistorius fired four shots in the dark toward a bathroom door. Steenkamp was on the other side. She was dead. Pistorius maintains he believed he was shooting at an intruder. However, prosecutors contend he killed Steenkamp in a fit of rage after an argument.

Defense attorneys Mark O'Mara and Joe Tacopina, who have each handled high-profile cases, offer insight into the case and what it means for Pistorius.

"This isn't really a whodunit - it's really a 'why done it,'" says forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Sasha Bardey.

"Oscar Pistorius: Shots in the Dark" will be broadcast on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the infamous live television coverage of O.J. Simpson attempting to flee in a white Bronco after learning he would be arrested for allegedly murdering his wife and a friend. Famed attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Robert Shapiro - members of Simpson's defense team - talk with 48 HOURS about that historic trial, and Roberts compares similarities between the Simpson and Pistorius cases.

48 HOURS: "Oscar Pistorius: Shots in the Dark" is produced by James Stolz, Kim Kennedy, Marcie Spencer, Patti Aronofsky, Sarah Carter, Taigi Smith and Avrum Cohen. Ryan Smith is field producer. Marlon Disla, Gary Winter, Ken Blum, Michael Vele, Phil Tangel, Richard Barber, Marcus Balsam and Michelle Harris are the editors. Allen Alter and Josh Gelman are the senior coordinating producers. Peter Schweitzer and Anthony Batson are the senior producers. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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