Pistorius Prison Sentence More Than Doubled

Oscar Pistorius' prison sentence was increased to 13 years and five months by South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday, a decision that more than doubled the Olympic runner's jail term for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. In an announcement that took a matter of minutes, Supreme Court Justice Willie Seriti said the Supreme Court upheld an appeal by prosecutors against Pistorius' original six-year sentence for shooting Steenkamp multiple times in his home in 2013, the AP reports. Prosecutors had called that six-year sentence "shockingly" lenient. Pistorius should have been sentenced to the prescribed minimum of 15 years for murder in South Africa, Seriti said

The new sentence of 13 years and five months took into account time Pistorius had already served in prison and at home under house arrest, Seriti said. Pistorius, who turned 31 on Wednesday, has served over a year of his initial six-year sentence. Pistorius killed Steenkamp in the pre-dawn hours of Valentine's Day 2013 after shooting through a closed toilet cubicle door in his home. Claiming he mistook her for an intruder, he was initially convicted of manslaughter. That conviction was replaced with a murder conviction in 2015. Friday's decision likely brings an end to a near five-year legal saga surrounding the double-amputee athlete, who was once one of the most celebrated sportsmen in the world. (In August, Pistorius was hospitalized with chest pains.)