Oscar Pistorius sells house where shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

Pistorius forced to sell the house due to increasing legal costs as murder trial enters seventh week

Oscar Pistorius has sold his Pretoria mansion where he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, his estate agent has confirmed.

Estate agent Ansie Louw, who managed the sale of his Pretoria mansion, told The Independent : "We can confirm that one of the offers has been accepted and the transfer process is underway."

On Thursday, his lawyer, Brian Webber, said that an offer to buy the athlete's upscale villa in the Silver Woods Country Estate had been accepted. He declined to identify the buyer or the amount it was sold for until the sale is finalised.

In his bail application last year, Pistorius valued the house at 5 million rand (£285,000). He also stated that he owned two other houses worth 1.5 million rand (£85,000) in Pretoria and a vacant plot valued at 1.6 million rand (£91,000) in Cape Town. All his properties together were worth 8.3 million (£474,000) rand at the time.

Back in March, Pistorius announced he was selling his mansion to cover the spiralling costs of his murder trial, which resumed on Monday after a 2-week adjournment, entering its seventh week.

Pistorius was released on bail of one million rand (£73,000) in February last year. The athlete has been paying his own legal fees since he was arrested and charged with murder.

His legal team, led by defence counsel Barry Roux, reportedly includes three full-time lawyers in court, ballistics and forensics experts, as well as a US crime scene reconstruction company.

Pistorius is accused of murdering his girlfriend following a domestic dispute in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year. He claims he shot and killed his girlfriend in a case of mistaken identity, thinking she was an intruder.

South Africa does not have trial by jury, meaning Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide Pistorius' fate with the help of two assessors.

The murder trial continues.