Breaking | Oscar Pistorius found guilty of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp’s murder: South African court

A South African appeals court on Thursday convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court’s conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to death in 2013.

Justice Lorimer Eric Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court in Bloemfontein and directed the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, to impose sentence.

“The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder,” Leach said to the courtroom, in which Steenkamp’s mother sat.

A 15-year prison sentence is the minimum punishment for murder in South Africa. However, the law allows for a lesser sentence to be imposed in exceptional circumstances.

READ MORE: Pistorius to be released from jail and placed under house arrest next month, but he could end up back behind bars

Pistorius was placed under house arrest in October after serving one year in prison. He had been sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. His lawyers can also argue that he should be shown leniency because he is disabled.

Pistorius, 29, killed Steenkamp in the early morning of Valentine’s Day. He insisted he thought she was an intruder behind the door of a toilet cubicle in his home. The prosecution said Pistorius shot Steenkamp during an argument.

Leach said regardless of who might have been behind the door, Pistorius should have known someone could be killed if he fired.

“The identity of his victim is irrelevant to his guilt,” the judge said.