via Oscar Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide – Nehanda Radio 12 September 2014
Judge Thokozile Masipa said the athlete acted “negligently” when he fired shots through a toilet door but in the “belief that there was an intruder”.
She said the state had failed to prove he intended to kill Reeva Steenkamp.
He was also found guilty on a charge of negligently handling a firearm that went off in a restaurant.
The BBC’s Andrew Harding, in court, says that following the verdicts, Pistorius sat, rubbed his face and slumped briefly forward.
There was not much emotion in court because everyone knew the verdict was coming, our correspondent adds.
It leaves the disgraced sprinter facing a jail sentence of up to 15 years, although legal experts suggest seven to 10 years is more likely when sentence is passed in a couple of weeks.
The double amputee had denied murdering Ms Steenkamp after a row on Valentine’s Day last year, saying he shot her by mistake.
With this the judge agreed, saying “it cannot be said that the accused did not entertain a genuine belief that there was an intruder”.
But she said: “The accused knew there was a person behind the toilet door, he chose to use a firearm.
“I am of the view the accused acted too hastily and used too much force. It is clear his conduct is negligent.” BBC
COMMENTS
When are we hanging this dude, murder is murder
The world has been fixated on this case. But strangely the world could not give two hoots about a President of a country who planned and executed a brutal genocide of about 20 000 civilians and he can still flit around the world in his flatulent senility.
As with Oscar,Gukarahundi was a “moment of madness!”
…….and how exactly does this affect the Zimbabwean situation?