The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has ruled out all murder charges, but said he may still be guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter).
Judge Thokozile Masipa said the prosecution had failed to prove the Olympic athlete killed his girlfriend deliberately in the toilet after a row, prompting tears from Mr. Pistorius.
He cannot have foreseen killing whoever was behind the toilet door, she said.
She added that Mr. Pistorius was an evasive witness but this did not mean he was guilty.
The South African Olympic sprinter denies murdering Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day last year, saying he thought there was an intruder.
Mr. Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, including two counts of shooting a firearm in public and the illegal possession of ammunition, the BBC reports.
Judge Masipa began by detailing the charges against the athlete and repeating extracts of his testimony, reading in a slow, measured way.
She then moved on to a summary of the trial.
A tense-looking Mr. Pistorius looked on from the dock and wept several times during the proceedings.
The judge questioned the reliability of several witnesses who apparently heard screams and gunshots at the time of the incident, saying most of those who said they had heard the incident had “got facts wrong.”
The prosecution had used these witnesses to try to prove that Mr. Pistorius had killed Ms Steenkamp with premeditation after an argument.
Later in her judgment, Judge Masipa concluded that the prosecution had failed in this.
“The state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder,” she said. “There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
