Valentine’s Day marks 10 years since Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The family of the murdered model reveal details of a prison cell confrontation with Pistorius – and why they now believe he should spend the rest of his life behind bars. MailOnline conducted an exclusive interview with the Steenkamps.
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Exclusive with Reeva Steenkamp’s parents
The now elderly, June and Barry Steenkamp say they have ‘crawled’ through the last ten years.
things haven’t got better. It gets worse as time goes by because we miss Reeva every day that she is not here with us
In June 2022, the bereaved parents met with Pistorius in prison, as part of South Africa’s victim-offender dialogue programme. Barry Steenkamp says the Blade Runner refused to admit he deliberately shot Reeva.
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I told Oscar directly that he had shot my daughter deliberately and he denied it. He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder
The 36-year-old shot Reeva four times through the bathroom door. He claims he mistook her for an intruder. And he could taste freedom very soon. He will be eligible for parole. Barry Steenkamp called Pistorius a ‘murderer’.
If he told me the truth, he would have been a free man by now and I would have let the law take its course over his parole. But I was wasting my time. He is a murderer. He should remain in jail.
You can find the full MailOnline exclusive interview here.
Oscar Pistorius possible parole
He is known as the ‘Blade Runner’ for his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs. Pistorius transformed from a public hero who pushed for greater acceptance of disabled athletes – to a convicted killer.
He was initially given a six-year jail term. But a prosecutors’ appeal saw the term increase to 13 years. He shot Reeva in 2013, and was jailed in 2016.
Reeva’s mother, June Steenkamp says her daughter really mattered to her.
He took away the only thing that really mattered to me in my life. Such a big thing that he took away. He assassinated her. That is what he did
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