Oscar Pistorius found guilty in girlfriend’s shooting death

Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide on Tuesday and sentenced to five years in jail for the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius was also found guilty of a firearms charge stemming from an unrelated incident when he unlawfully fired a gun in a restaurant.

The two sentences will run concurrently, with the firearms charge wholly suspended for five years.

Oscar Pistorius, the South African sprinter known globally as “Blade Runner”, has been convicted of culpable homicide by a judge. On Thursday, the same judge had found Pistorius not guilty of murder; culpable homicide is a lesser charge with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Sentencing should occur within weeks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The South African charge of culpable homicide is similar to the American charge of manslaughter.

Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty Thursday of the two most serious charges he faced for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa ruled that Pistorius was not guilty of premeditated murder and also not guilty of a lesser charge of murder.

Judge Masipa stated that Pistorius’ assertion that he thought he was defending against home invaders was credible and that prosecution failed to prove otherwise. However, Pistorius still faces a charge of culpable homicide, which in South Africa is the negligent killing of another person.

Oscar Pistorius was formally indicted on charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition in the South African court on Monday, relating to the shooting death of his girlfriend. The double-amputee Olympian is alleged to have shot Reeva Steenkamp to death in the early morning of Feb. 14 after what prosecutors say was an argument between Pistorius and Steenkamp that night.

Pistorius has claimed he thought there was an intruder in his home and he was shooting through the closed door to protect himself, maintaining he took the four shots while standing on his stumps. Prosecutors claim they can prove he took the shots while on his prosthetics, showing he did not suddenly get out of bed as he claims, and that the shooting erupted after a loud argument between Pistorius and his girlfriend.

The bail hearing for Oscar Pistorius continued on Wednesday and featured testimony from South African police, who said that a witness heard shouting coming from the residence for an hour preceding the shooting, according to NBC News. Pistorius’ account on Tuesday claimed that it was an accidental shooting and that the former Olympian thought an intruder, not his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was in his bathroom. But police and prosecutors on Wednesday called that into question, with Warrant Officer Hilton Botha stating, “I believe he knew she was in the bathroom.”

One discrepancy between the Pistorius account and the testimony from Botha is the angle at which the shots fired into the bathroom wounded Steenkamp. On Tuesday, Pistorius said that he went to his balcony without his prosthetic legs when he heard what he thought was an intruder in the bathroom. The account presented a vulnerable Pistorius without his prosthetic legs, worried about a home invader. But on Wednesday, according to the AP, Botha testified that the angle of the shots indicate that Pistorius did fire the weapon with his prosthetic legs attached. Prosecutor Gillie Nel is arguing that the murder was premeditated, alleging the couple had been fighting and that Pistorius took time to put his prosthetic legs on before firing the shots into the bathroom.

Oscar Pistorius and his attorney provided an account of the evening he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a South African court on Tuesday. The Olympian maintained that the shooting was an accident and that he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder.

Pistorius, who was sobbing in the courtroom, had his attorney read the narration of how the shooting unfolded. He had been keeping a 9 MM handgun under his bed on the evening of the shooting. Pistorius then awoke in the middle of the night to retrieve a fan from his balcony when he heard what he thought was an intruder in his bathroom. Pistorius claims that he thought Steenkamp was still in bed and that a home invader had likely used nearby ladders to come through an opened bathroom window. That prompted him to shout at whoever was in the bathroom (via David Blair of The Telegraph)

There is apparently new evidence in the case of former Olympian Oscar Pistorius, charged on Friday in the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Via the City Press:

Prosecutors have indicated they will pursue a premeditated murder charge against Pistorius, who allegedly killed Steenkamp on Thursday at Pistorius’ home in Pretoria. Steenkamp was shot multiple times, but as the City Press article now notes, the bloodied cricket bat adds more layers to the story.

Prosecutors said they will pursue a premeditated murder charge against Oscar Pistorius after he was formally charged Friday, according to The Associated Press.

The Paralympic athlete allegedly murdered his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, Thursday in South Africa. She was shot multiple times at Pistorius’ home in Pretoria:

Oscar Pistorius has been formally charged with murder in the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, a woman believed to be his girlfriend. Steenkamp was shot dead in the home of Pistorius in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday morning. The court hearing is scheduled for Friday.

Early reports said that Pistorius told police the shooting was an accident and he had mistaken the victim as an intruder, but a police spokeswoman, Brig. Denise Beukes, said those reports did not come from police. Beukes also said there had been previous incidents at the Pistorius home due to complains of a “domestic nature.”