Zandi Shabalala of Reuters Africa is reporting disgraced Paralympic Gold Medalist Oscar Pistorius will be sentenced in June for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, after his original conviction was upgraded from the lesser charge of manslaughter to murder. Shabalala writes:
“Pistorius, 29, known as ‘Blade Runner’ for the carbon fiber prosthetic blades he used to race, faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence and cannot appeal after the country’s top court ruled in March that he had exhausted all his legal options.
Dressed in a black suit, he showed no signs of emotion during the brief court appearance and spoke on his cellphone as he left the court. He denies killing Steenkamp, saying he mistook her for an intruder at his home.”
Pistorius, who was originally sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, was released after serving one-year in prison. He was then allowed to live under house arrest while finishing the sentence at his Uncle’s home. After prosecutors appealed the initial ruling, in December, the Supreme Court upgraded his conviction from manslaughter to murder, which carries a penalty of 15 years. His new sentencing hearing will take place over four days.
Read more at Reuters.
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