Oscar Pistorius arrived on Monday at a psychiatric hospital to undergo up to 30 days of tests before his murder trial resumes.
Judge Thokozile Masipa had ordered the South African athlete to undergo tests to clarify whether he understood the wrongfulness of his act when he shot dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, through the bathroom door of his Pretoria home in February last year.
The double-amputee Olympic sprinter says he mistook the model for a burglar.
Mr. Pistorius arrived at Pretoria’s Weskoppies hospital in a tinted-windows sedan and amid tight security.
The athlete needs to report to the hospital in the morning and stay until mid-afternoon, unless he is dismissed sooner.
Judge Masipa had earlier this month granted an application by the prosecution that Mr. Pistorius be sent for mental observation after a psychiatrist testifying for the defence said he had a generalized anxiety disorder.
Mr. Pistorius’ defence says his extreme fear of crime made him pull the trigger when he heard a noise from his bathroom at night.
The testing will delay the end of the trial, which has run in Pretoria for 33 court days.
Mr. Pistorius, whose legs were amputated at the knee as an infant because of a congenital abnormality, became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the 2012 London Olympics.
If found guilty of premeditated murder, he could face a life sentence, i.e he would spend at least 25 years in prison.
