A South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict on Oscar Pistorius with the paralympic star now found guilty of murder.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.
Pistorious killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting four times through a locked toilet door.
He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail. He will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but judges can apply some discretion.
In October 2014, a South African court had sentenced Oscar Pistorius to five years in jail.
The paralympic runner was convicted of culpable homicide for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, issuing the ruling in court in Pretoria, also gave Pistorius a three-year suspended sentence for a firearms charge.
The prosecution had called for a minimum 10-year sentence, while the defence called for community service and house arrest.
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide but cleared of murder.
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