Parents of the late Reeva Steenkamp, the lovely model shot dead by convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius, have expressed great relief at the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn his manslaughter conviction and slap him with second degree murder during a ruling heard in Bloemfontein Thursday.
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In an interview with NBC’s TODAY, June Steenkamp said Pistorius’ murder conviction was “a day of happiness for the women in South Africa”.
Prosecutors had appealed against the original ruling, saying that Pistorius should be convicted of murder for firing four shots through a locked toilet door.
Pistorius has been living with his uncle in Pretoria since being released on house arrest in October, performing community service once a fortnight under his conditions of parole.
Justice Eric Leach, who read out an abridged version of the judgment on Thursday morning on behalf of the court, said: “The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder”.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but exceptional circumstances in the case of the former track star, including time served, his disability and his status as a first-time offender, could mean a lower sentence.
Leach said the court was entitled to set aside the conviction of culpable homicide and order a retrial, but the appeals court found that a retrial was not in the interests of justice and instead imposed the murder conviction.
The court will hand down Pistorius’s new sentence in early 2016, and he will likely remain under house arrest until then.
Pistorius is now expected to return to court to be re-sentenced. No such law exists in South Africa.
Leach said regardless of who might have behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired. Supreme Court of Appeals is either three judges or a full bench, which is five.
FILE – In this November 4, 2012 file photo, South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp arrive for an awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Legal expert Mannie Witz told the BBC that there do not appear to be any grounds for such an appeal.
The case – “a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions”, Justice Leach said – will be referred to a trial court for sentencing. His initial sentence was a five-year jail sentence.
She must now give Pistorius a new sentence, likely to be in the new year.
“For us as a family, we can get on with our lives now and I hope his family can get on with their lives now”, he said.
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Responding to the verdict, Pistorius’ family said their lawyers are studying the finding and will advise them on “options going forward”.
