South African appeals court doubles Oscar Pistorius' sentence

Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius was sentenced in July 2016.

(Image credit: Marco Longari - Pool/Getty Images)

published 24 November 2017

A South African court on Friday doubled Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius' prison sentence for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, to 13 years and five months, The Guardian reports.

Prosecutors challenged the double amputee's initial sentence of six years as being too lenient, and the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that it should be increased to 15 years, minus just over a year and a half for the time Pistorius has served. "This is an emotional thing for them," said Steenkamp family spokeswoman Tania Koen. "They just feel that their trust in the justice system has been confirmed this morning."

Pistorius fatally shot Steenkamp in his home on Valentine's Day in 2013. He said he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through a bathroom door. He was originally convicted of manslaughter, but the appeals court upgraded the conviction to murder.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.