Oscar Pistorius found guilty of murder after appeals court ruling

Oscar Pistorius is set to swap house arrest at his uncle’s mansion with a jail cell after being convicted of murder.

Reeva Steenkamp was shot in the toilet of Pistorius’s home.

A South African appeals court has convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court’s conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to death in 2013.

Justice Lorimer Eric Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge tribunal in Bloemfontein and directed the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, to impose sentence. He did not specify when that should happen. The former track star is currently under house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in Pretoria.

“The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent,” Leach said to the courtroom, in which Steenkamp’s mother sat. A 15-year prison sentence is the minimum punishment for murder in South Africa. However, the law allows for a lesser sentence to be imposed in exceptional circumstances.

Pistorius, 29, was convicted of manslaughter, or culpable homicide, for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home early on Valentine’s Day 2013.

The verdict that was read by Judge Leach, who was part of a panel of five judges that made the decision, said Judge Thokozile Maspia’s judgment against Pistorius was filled with “fundamental errors”.

Prosecutors said Pistorius shot Steenkamp during an argument, while the defence said Pistorius killed Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was an intruder.

Leach said regardless of who might have been behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired.

“The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt,” the judge said.

Reeva Steenkamp was shot in the toilet of Pistorius’s home.

Under the concept of “dolus eventualis” in South African law, a person can be convicted of murder if they foresaw the possibility of someone dying through their actions and went ahead anyway.

Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was carried on TV. Pistorius was not there.

The former track star was put under house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in a Pretoria suburb on October 19 after serving one year of a five-year prison sentence, in line with the guidelines of South Africa’s correctional services department.

June Steenkamp, mother of the Reeva, was in court to hear the new Pistorius verdict.

The father of the slain model says he felt a sense of “relief” after South Africa’s appeal court found that Pistorius was guilty of murdering Reeva.

“It’s a big relief. I feel it’s a fair decision that the judge gave,” Barry Steenkamp said in a brief interview on local television station ANN7, before breaking down in tears.

Meanwhile the Pistorius family said it would wait for guidance from lawyers after the appeals court ruled against him.

“The legal team will study the finding and we will be guided by them in terms of options going forward. We will not be commenting any further at this stage,” Anneliese Burgess, the Pistorius family’s spokeswoman said in a statement.

On November 3, prosecutors argued at the Supreme Court of Appeal, which is in Bloemfontein city, that the judge at Pistorius’ murder trial in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria made errors when she acquitted him of murder. The runner should have known that someone could be killed when he fired four times through the door of a toilet cubicle, according to the prosecution.

Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion, became one of the world’s most famous athletes and the first amputee to run at the Olympics and the able-bodied world championships. He was known as “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre running blades.

AP