The athlete will now be re-sentenced after an appeal court in South Africa decided the original verdict was “flawed”.
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The court overturned his conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter in the 2013 shooting death of model Reeva Steenkamp and instead found Pistorius guilty of murder.
Journalists wait outside the home of Oscar Pistorius’ uncle Arnold Pistorius in Pretoria December 3, 2015.
Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp through a bathroom door in his home early on Valentine’s Day 2013.
The appeal bench also found that Masipa had been wrong to disregard circumstantial evidence, notably that of a police ballistics expert, which indicated that Pistorius had foreseen the fatal consequences of his actions.
Justice Thokozile Masipa, who presided over the trial, accepted that Pistorius hadn’t meant to kill Steenkamp, and noted that he had shown remorse nearly immediately after her death.
Pistorius’ lawyer argued that he believed that there was an intruder in the house but the judge said that the identity of the person behind the door was irrelevant.
In worldwide news, Pistorius was the fourth most popular news item in the last 24 hours garnering 10.6% of the coverage. The Pistorius family has said attorneys will provide advice on legal options.
The family of Reeva Steenkamp have praised the court’s decision to convict their daughter’s killer of murder.
“He acted with dolus eventualis”, said Leach, who described the killing as a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.
Legal sources in South Africa say that Pistorius could be out of jail in just three years – despite his sentence.
“We’ve got justice, we’ve got respect for Reeva, we’ve got respect for women” Mrs Steenkamp said to Sky News this week. “I feel it’s a fair decision that the judge gave”, Steenkamp said in a brief interview on local television station ANN7, before breaking down in tears.
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Mr Leach said, regardless of who might have behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired.
