Oscar Pistorius joked about killing an intruder on Twitter in November last year, less than three months before the Olympian's girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead at his Pretoria home.
Pistorius tweeted on 27 November: "Nothing like getting home to hear the washing machine on and thinking its an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry! waa."
The 26-year-old was today arrested and charged with the murder of Miss Steenkamp and will spend the night in prison before appearing in court at 7am GMT tomorrow morning.
Pistorius pictured leaving his home on Thursday morning
Six-time Paralympic gold medallist Pistorius was extremely conscious about his safety whilst in his native South Africa and reportedly kept a pistol by his bed and a machine gun by his window. According to official figures, 13 in 100 people own a gun in South Africa.
Police have previously been called to the home of Oscar Pistorius because of incidents "of a domestic nature," a police officer confirmed.
Brigadier Denise Beukes also said police were "very surprised" by a previous suggestion that Pistorius had fired the shots after hearing a burglar.
Beukes told reporters near the scene: "These allegations did not come from us."