Pistorius is in custody. We have not heard explanations from him. Instead, we're hearing from others, including journalists who spent time with him.

One wrote this week that Pistorius had "a sinister-looking machine gun" in his house. That isn't what the journalist wrote at the time of his visit in 2011. Then, it was simply "a machine gun." Already, the Pistorius narrative is being rewritten, when the full story is not yet known. South Africa can be dangerous. The electrified fences on high walls around homes tell you that. Pistorius isn't the only South African to be armed. Nor is he the only 26-year-old who has professed to liking powerful motorbikes and driving at speed. Does that make him reckless, as some now suggest? Maybe. It certainly doesn't prove that he would commit murder. Athletes often make poor role models. The sporting hall of infamy, the likes of Lance Armstrong, O J Simpson and Tiger Woods, long ago told us that. Like most of us, star athletes don't broadcast if they beat their partners, abuse their kids, have substance problems, cheat, lie or are pathological. Unlike most of us, they also have sponsors who watch their backs and cover their tracks, PR agents who massage the message and lawyers to keep any ugly truth from getting out. So it always is a bigger shock when a carefully packaged athlete turns out to have been a rat or worse. Pistorius was a carefully packaged athlete, with a story he told well. What else he may also have been isn't yet clear. (AP) CM CM 02161032 NNNN