JOHANNESBURG. Oscar Pistorius was convicted of murder on Thursday by a South African appeals court that described the once-glittering story of the double-amputee Olympian and Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he killed in his home in 2013, as "a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions."
The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned a lower court's conviction on the less serious charge of manslaughter, adding another twist to a case that riveted people around the world because of its gripping saga of a celebrity athlete's plunge from grace by his own hand.
The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent," Justice Lorimer Eric Leach said in the courtroom in Blomefontein, in which Steenkamp's mother, June, sat impassively. Pistorius was not there.
The murder conviction means Pistorius will almost certainly go back to jail, where he spent one year of a 5-year prison sentence before being put under house arrest at his uncle's mansion in Pretoria in October.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but exceptional circumstances in the case of the former track star, including time already served, his disability and status as a first-time offender, could mean he'll get a lower sentence.
Sentencing is up to the North Gauteng High Court, where Pistorius was tried. South African media said Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over the original trial, will handle the matter. No sentencing date has been set.
The National Prosecuting Authority will wait for word from the trial court about possible sentencing dates, said Luvuyo Mfaku, a spokesman for the authority.
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