Court finds Pistorius guilty of murder
OLYMPIC athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found
guilty of murder after a South African appeals
court overturned an earlier man- slaughter
verdict.
Pistorious killed his girl- friend Reeva Steenkamp
in February 2013 after shooting four times
through a locked toilet door.
He is currently under house arrest after spending
one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.
Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-
sentenced, for murder.
It was earlier incorrectly reported that the court
had ruled the manslaughter verdict would
remain.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled
that the lower court did not correctly apply the
rule of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius knew
that a death would be a likely result of his
actions.
The minimum sentence for murder in South
Africa is 15 years, but judges can apply some
discretion. South African law does not make
provision for someone to be placed under house
arrest for more than five years, so Pistorius will
be going back to prison, re- ports the BBC’s
Pumza Fih- lani in Johannesburg.
Pistorius’ family gave a brief response, saying
lawyers are studying the verdit and are seeking
who will advise them on “options going forward”.
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