New York Times Writer Says Oscar Pistorius Is 'Paranoid' With A 'Hair Trigger'

Details are emerging about the character of sprinter Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian who has been charged with premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Michael Sokolove, who profiled Pistorius for The New York Times in November, went on the PBS Newshour to provide some perspective on the enigmatic South African icon.

He explains how Pistorius is "an adrenaline junkie" who likes to race cars, speedboats, guns, and exotic pets but seems measured enough that Sokolove never thought the sprinter "was going to hurt someone else."

However he also said that Pistorius was "paranoid" and "on a hair-trigger" given South Africa's gun-soaked society and the sprinter's intensity.

"I didn't see malice from Oscar," Sokolove said. "I didn't see him as a violent person. I did see him as a man of action, coiled, and on a hair-trigger. And that has its own dangers."

Here's the video: