JOHANNESBURG – The judge who granted bail to Oscar Pistorius says he is related to a woman suspected of killing her two children and then committing suicide last weekend.
Magistrate Desmond Nair confirmed on Tuesday that the woman, whose body was found at her home Sunday evening along with those of her sons, is a first cousin.
The woman's brother, Vishal Maharaj, identified her as Anusha Maharaj. Police suspect her of administering a substance that killed her children, and taking her life by ingesting the same substance. Police say suicide notes were found.
Nair presided over dramatic bail hearings for Pistorius last week in a case followed closely around the world. The double-amputee Olympian is charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Feb. 14.
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