PRETORIA – Paralympic gold medalist, Oscar Pistorius today enters the final stretch of a protracted legal battle that could see him back in jail for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp three years ago.
The double-amputee killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for an intruder when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.
In March, Pistorius’ lawyers failed in their legal bid to reverse a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment that upgraded his original conviction from culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, to murder.
The original trial judge, Thokozile Masipa is expected to pass a new sentence after hearing pre-sentencing arguments at Pretoria High Court on Monday from both prosecution and defence by the end of this week.
The prosecution will be pushing for a tougher penalty.
The 29-year-old ‘blade runner’ faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence for murder, but his sentence could be reduced due to time already spent in prison and mitigating factors, including his disability.
–Guardian