'Bladerunner' Oscar Pistorius convicted of murder

Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius, the South African amputee who rose to Olympian fame as the "Bladerunner," and who was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of his model girlfriend, has now been convicted of murder.

A South African appeals court tossed a lower court's manslaughter ruling and instead convicted the double-amputee of murder for the 2013 home-based incident that left Reeva Steenkamp dead.

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"The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder," said Justice Lorimer Eric Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Associated Press reported.

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Leach then directed the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, to impose sentence.

Pistorius faces a 15-year prison term, at minimum. Law does allow for lesser sentences for murder, but only in the most exceptional of circumstances, AP said.

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On the manslaughter charge, Pistorius was given five years in prison. He served a year and then was placed on house arrest.

Pistorius, 29, killed Steenkamp on Valentine's Day by shooting through the door of his bathroom. He maintained throughout his trial he thought she was a home intruder.