South African Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius granted parole 10 years after killing his girlfriend
South African double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole Friday, 10 years after repeatedly shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a bathroom door, killing her.
Pistorius, 37, who fatally shot Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, would be released from prison on Jan. 5.
“Mr Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires,” the Department of Correctional Services said in a statement on Friday.
Steenkamp’s mother, June, did not oppose Pistorius’ parole hearing but chose not to attend it at Atteridgeville prison, saying: “I simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage.”
In a letter read on Friday by a family representative, June Steenkamp said she “not convinced that Oscar has been rehabilitated” in prison, and wondered whether Pistorius’ “huge anger issues” had been addressed.
Steenkamp added that she would potentially be “concerned for the safety of any woman” who crosses his path in the future.
She also noted the wishes of Reeva Steenkamp’s father, Barry, who died in September, aged 80.
“My dear Barry left this world utterly devastated by the thought that he had failed to protect his daughter,” June Steenkamp wrote in her letter. “The only hope he had left, was that Oscar would find it in himself to eventually tell the full truth.”
Barry Steenkamp met with Pistorius in June 2022 as part of the parole process. He said the disgraced athlete had dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.
Known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, Pistorius went from a star Paralympic champion and role model to disabled athletes, to a convicted killer in hearings that made headlines around the world.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 by firing four shots through the bathroom door, later claiming that he mistook his 29-year-old girlfriend for a burglar.
But June Steenkamp continued to maintain that Pistorius knowingly killed her daughter.
“I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” she said in her statement Friday.
“In fact, I do not know anybody who does,” she added. “My dearest child screamed for her life… I believe he knew it was Reeva.”
Pistorius will remain on parole until Dec. 5, 2029. Under the conditions of his release, he will be required to attend therapy for anger issues and “gender-based violence issues”, and perform community service.
Pistorius was initially imprisoned for five years in 2014 for culpable homicide. But the Supreme Court of Appeal in late 2015 found him guilty of the more serious charge of murder after an appeal by prosecutors.
His total sentence was extended to six years in 2016 — less than half the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutors.
In 2017, the Supreme Court more than doubled his total sentence to 13 years and five months, saying the six-year jail term was “shockingly lenient.”
Pistorius was denied parole in March after it was determined that he had not completed the minimum detention period required to be considered for parole.
However, the Constitutional Court weighed in last month, ruling that Pistorius had served half of his sentence by March 21, which meant he was eligible, after his sentence was backdated to July 2016 instead of November 2017.
Several factors are typically taken into account by a parole board, including the nature of the crime, the possibility of reoffending, conduct in prison, physical and mental wellbeing and potential threats a prisoner may face if released.
Pistorius’ father, Henke, told The Times that his son had become a spiritual leader in prison and had even convinced a violent gang member to attend his Bible study class and prayer group.
Pistorius told the parole board that he had done everything in his power to rehabilitate, follow prison rules and “show full remorse.”
