Breaking News: Oscar Pistorius not guilty of murder

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 A South African judge Thursday said Oscar Pistorius acted negligently when he shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year, but stopped short of issuing a formal verdict or sentence.

"I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force," Judge Thokozile Masipa said of Mr. Pistorius decision to fire four shots through his locked bathroom door. He says he thought an intruder was inside. "It is clear that his conduct was negligent."

She then adjourned the reading of her decision until Friday. A charge of "culpable homicide," or manslaughter, carries a wide range of possible sentences in South Africa, from a fine to 15 years in prison. Mr. Pistorius also faces three weapons charges that the judge didn't address in detail on Thursday.

Ms. Masipa's decision caps a seven-month trial that has enthralled South Africans, drawing together the country's most famous athlete and a beautiful model in a high-stakes reckoning with twin national scourges of crime and domestic violence.

The trial has also captivated a vast audience abroad. Journalists tweeted and transcribed every moment of proceedings that traced Mr. Pistorius's transformation from a fearless competitor to a shaky witness in his own murder trial, who claimed a lifetime of insecurity bred by his disability clouded his judgment as he confronted an unseen intruder in the early morning hours of February 14, 2013.

A South African judge Thursday said Oscar Pistorius acted negligently when he shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year, but stopped short of issuing a formal verdict or sentence.

"I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force," Judge Thokozile Masipa said of Mr. Pistorius decision to fire four shots through his locked bathroom door. He says he thought an intruder was inside. "It is clear that his conduct was negligent."

She then adjourned the reading of her decision until Friday. A charge of "culpable homicide," or manslaughter, carries a wide range of possible sentences in South Africa, from a fine to 15 years in prison. Mr. Pistorius also faces three weapons charges that the judge didn't address in detail on Thursday.

Ms. Masipa's decision caps a seven-month trial that has enthralled South Africans, drawing together the country's most famous athlete and a beautiful model in a high-stakes reckoning with twin national scourges of crime and domestic violence.

The trial has also captivated a vast audience abroad. Journalists tweeted and transcribed every moment of proceedings that traced Mr. Pistorius's transformation from a fearless competitor to a shaky witness in his own murder trial, who claimed a lifetime of insecurity bred by his disability clouded his judgment as he confronted an unseen intruder in the early morning hours of February 14, 2013.