Oscar Pistorius may be paroled in August, as appeal set for November

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Oscar Pistorius may be moved from prison to house arrest

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison after fatally shooting his girlfriend

– South African Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius may be released from prison on parole in August after serving only 10 months for culpable homicide in the killing of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

"Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August," a Pistorius family member who asked not to be identified told Reuters Monday. Pistorius started his five year sentence in October last year.

South African prison officials have recommended Pistorius be released from prison on Aug. 21 to go under house arrest. Acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services Zach Modise says that a prison committee recommended Pistorius be released from the prison in Pretoria after serving one sixth of his five-year sentence. A decision by the parole board is pending.

Modise said the committee made the recommendation on the basis of the double-amputee Olympic athlete's good behavior in the jail in the South African capital, Pretoria.

Correctional Services spokesman Manelisi Wolela said the conditions of Pistorius' house arrest won't be made public.

Pistorius was acquitted of murder last year for killing Steenkamp in 2013 by shooting her multiple times through a closed toilet door in his Pretoria home. The runner claimed he mistook Steenkamp for a nighttime intruder.

Meanwhile, Pistorius' case will go in front of South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November, the court said Monday, when prosecutors will challenge the decision to acquit him of murder for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius would again face the possibility of a murder conviction and a minimum of 15 years in prison if a panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Appeal overturns the original decision in his murder trial.

The court has not yet set an exact date for the appeal, court registrar Paul Myburgh told The Associated Press, but it will be in November. That will be three months after Pistorius is eligible for release from prison to serve the remainder of his current sentence, under house arrest.

Prosecutors appealed the decision by trial Judge Thokozile Masipa, saying the double-amputee Olympic athlete should have been found guilty of murder. In December, Masipa granted prosecutors permission to appeal her finding at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Myburgh said that chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defense lawyer Barry Roux have already met with the president of the court.

Some of the details of the appeal hearing have been ironed out: Prosecutors must submit their court papers outlining their argument by Aug. 17. Pistorius' defense team must submit its response by Sept. 17, Myburgh said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.