Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter).
Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp (29), at his home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day 2013. The double amputee (27) admitted to shooting his girlfriend but said that he mistook her for an intruder.
Yesterday Judge Thokozile Masipa found the accused (Pistorius) not guilty of premeditated murder and not guilty of second-degree murder.
“The unanimous decision of this court is the following,” the judge stated. “On count one the accused is found not guilty and is discharged. Instead, he is found guilty of culpable homicide.”
As she ran through the evidence given at trial, the judge described Pistorius as “negligent.”
Oscar Pistorius in court yesterday.
Explaining the reasoning behind her verdict, the judge said: “The accused gave a version which could reasonably possibly be true. That is all that is required for an acquittal.
“The conduct of the accused shortly after the incident is inconsistent with the conduct of someone who had intention to commit murder.”
She continued: “He acted promptly in seeking help soon after the incident. He shouted for help. He called a friend, he called 911, he called security although he could not speak as he was crying. He prayed to God to save the deceased’s life.
“He was seen trying to resuscitate the deceased. And he pleaded with Doctor Stipp to help and he was distraught. From the above, it cannot be said that the accused did not entertain a genuine belief that there was an intruder in the toilet who posed a threat to him.
“Therefore, he could not be found guilty of murder dolus directus, and he cannot be found guilty of murder dolus eventulis either, it could not be said that he saw that either the deceased or anyone else for that matter might be killed when he fired the shots at the toilet door.”
