Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s conviction for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been scaled up to murder from culpable homicide by South Africa’s top appeals court.
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Pistorius, 29, was originally convicted of manslaughter, or culpable homicide, for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home early on Valentine’s Day 2013.
After serving 10 months of his sentence, Pistorius became eligible to be moved to house arrest, and was cleared to leave Kgosi Mampuru II prison in the city of Pretoria on 21 August.
“Before I knew it, I’d fired four shots at the door”, he said, adding that he ran back to the bed only to find that Steenkamp was not there.
“He ought to have been convicted not of culpable homicide on that count but of culpable murder”.
He said during his trial past year that he mistook her for an intruder when he opened fire at the locked door of his bedroom toilet.
The panel can order a retrial; it can dismiss the appeal or it can overturn the original verdict and impose the more serious murder one as well as change the sentence.
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.
But in reviewing the case he described “a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions”, Justice Leach said it was not disputable that Pistorius shot his girlfriend through the door four times.
Pistorius, a double amputee known for his prostheses as the “blade runner”, competed with able-bodied runners in the 400 meters in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
It comes two weeks after the former Paralympic sprinter made his first public outing since he was released from jail, to carry out community service.
But Pistorius and family were not there.
Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was shown live on television.
However, he will now return to the original court for re-sentencing.
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But defence lawyers say he can not afford further legal battles, having already paid huge bills.
