Oscar Pistorius’s Conviction Changes from Culpable Homicide To Murder!

Oscar Pistorius’s conviction for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been changed from culpable homicide to murder. Justice Lorimer Leach, one of the five judges at South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, said the original verdict was “flawed”, as Pistorius must have foreseen that firing into the small toilet cubicle in his home would have led to the death of the person he knew was inside.

In the original trial last year, Judge Thokozile Masipa said prosecutors had failed to prove this beyond all reasonable doubt. She accepted that Pistorius genuinely believed there was an intruder behind the door rather than his girlfriend.

In today’s ruling, Justice Lorimer Leach said the identity of the person behind the door was irrelevant, the BBC reports. The fact that Pistorius armed himself with a high-calibre weapon and shot into a small toilet cubicle showed he must have foreseen that the person might die.

The athlete, who is currently under house arrest at his uncle’s home in Pretoria, will now be re-sentenced by the original court and looks certain to return to jail, as a murder conviction carries a minimum of 15 years in South Africa.

The decision comes days after reporters were offered a closer look inside the prison where Pistorius spent most of the past year. Pictures of his cell at Kgosi Mampuri II Prison show a small room with a basic sink, bed and table underneath a large curtained window.

Yesterday, prosecutor Gerrie Nel forcefully argued that Pistorius must have known his shots would kill and the conviction should therefore have been murder.

The panel of judges has now listened to both sides and is expected to announce its verdict before the end of the year. The judge leading the panel that will decide Pistorius’s fate is Lex Mpati, president of the Supreme Court of Appeal and chancellor of Rhodes University.