Reeva Steencamp's Family Shocked At Pistorius Verdict

The parents of Reeva Steenkamp have reacted with shock and disbelief
after a judge acquitted star athlete Oscar Pistorius of her murder,
convicting him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

"We were shocked. Shocked. Disappointed," June Steenkamp told
Britain's ITV News on Friday. "You know your heart drops because you
just want the truth," she said, referring to the death of her
daughter.

Earlier Friday, South African Judge Thokozile Masipa acquitted
Pistorius of murder, but found he acted "negligently" in killing the
blonde law graduate and fashion model by firing at her through a
bathroom door.

"Blade Runner" Pistorius walked free on bail ahead of what could still
be a stiff prison sentence. He had argued that he shot Steenkamp in
the dead of the night after he mistook her for an intruder.

The 27-year-old athlete -- whose journey from disabled infant to
Olympic sprinter inspired the world -- will hear his punishment when
sentencing begins on October 13.

The father of the victim said he found it difficult to believe
Pistorius' version of the events.

"There is still something missing," Barry Steenkamp told ITV News. "I
think there was more to the whole story, you know, coming up to the
actual shooting, the killing."

His trial had heard that in the early hours of Valentine's Day last
year Pistorius fired four hollow point pistol rounds into a locked
toilet door, hitting Steenkamp and causing her head to "explode" and
"amputating" her arm.

Masipa, dismissing swathes of prosecution evidence as inconclusive or
irrelevant, ruled that on the charge of murder "the accused is found
not guilty and is discharged. Instead he is found guilty of culpable
homicide".

Pistorius stared straight ahead as the conviction was read, showing
little emotion.

But from the courtroom gallery there were sniffles and shallow breaths
as friends and family of 29-year-old Steenkamp wept.

Steenkamp's father Barry looked at Pistorius and ran his hand over his
head while her mother June pursed her lips and shook her head.

"I just don't feel that this is the right (verdict)," she said in a
separate interview with America's NBC News after the final judgement
was handed down in Pretoria.

The mother said her daughter had died a "horrible, painful, terrible death".

"And I can't believe that they believe that it was an accident," she said.

Pistorius was escorted by more than a dozen policemen wearing bullet
proof vests out of the courtroom and into a heaving crowd outside.

Culpable homicide carries no mandatory sentence under South African law.

But Masipa -- who has a reputation for handing out stiff sentences --
could decide to fine Pistorius or put him behind bars for more than a
decade.

"It all comes down to how she feels, how bad the mistake was," said
Johannesburg lawyer David Dadic. "It's a very serious negligence
crime."