JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s top appeals court ruled on Thursday that Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic
star known as the Blade Runner, was guilty of murder in the 2013
killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, overturning a lower court’s
conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The
appeals court ordered the lower court to hand a new sentence to Mr.
Pistorius, who has already served about a year in prison and is now
under house arrest for the previous conviction. A murder conviction
carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The
appeals court sided with state prosecutors on central points, saying
that the manslaughter conviction had been based on a misinterpretation
of laws and erroneous dismissal of circumstantial evidence.
The
court said that Mr. Pistorius, who has said repeatedly that he
accidentally killed his girlfriend when he believed his home had been
broken into, should have foreseen that his actions would cause the death
of a person.
The
court did not say where Mr. Pistorius, 29, who has been under house
arrest since October, is expected to remain pending a new sentence. He
was not present when five judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal in
Bloemfontein delivered their verdict. Ms. Steenkamp’s relatives, who
were in court, embraced upon hearing the ruling.
Source: NYT