Parents of woman killed by Oscar Pistorius oppose his parole

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, still believe he is lying about their daughter's killing and opposed the former Olympic runner's application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.

"Unless he comes clean, they don't feel that he is rehabilitated," lawyer Tania Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been incarcerated since 2016 and where his parole hearing took place Friday.

"He's the killer of their daughter. For them, it's a life sentence," Koen said before the hearing.

Pistorius, a double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion who made history by competing against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine's Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home.

Pistorius has always claimed he shot his girlfriend in error after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder. He said he didn't realize that she got out of bed and went to the bathroom. But her parents, Barry and June Steenkamp, have said they still believe he killed her intentionally in anger in a late-night argument.

Pistorius fired four shots with his licensed 9 mm pistol through a toilet cubicle door in his upscale Pretoria villa to kill the 29-year-old Steenkamp, a model and reality TV star, in the predawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013.

Pistorius, who is now 36, was ultimately sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison for murder in 2017 after a series of appeals in his case. He is eligible for parole after having served half his sentence.

Pistorius has served more than seven years taking into account time served from late 2014 while his initial manslaughter conviction was overturned after an appeal by the prosecution and replaced with a murder conviction.

Steenkamp's mother, June Steenkamp, submitted written and oral statements at Friday's hearing opposing Pistorius' application to be released from prison, the parents' lawyer said. Koen said June Steenkamp addressed the parole board in a separate room to Pistorius. The parole board said that a decision would be made later Friday, Koen said.

June Steenkamp earlier sat grim-faced in the back seat of a car nearby while Koen spoke to reporters outside the prison gates ahead of the hearing. June Steenkamp and Koen were then driven into the prison in a Department of Corrections vehicle.

"She doesn't feel that he must be released," Koen said. A decade after their daughter's killing, Koen said time "hasn't healed" the grief for Barry and June. "For them, it's 10 missed birthdays, 10 Mother's Days, 10 Father's Days, 10 Christmases."

Barry Steenkamp met face-to-face with Pistorius last year in what's known in South Africa as a victim-offender dialogue and which is part of the pre-parole process. That meeting was "traumatic," Koen said.

Submissions from a victim's relative are just one of the factors a parole board takes into account.

According to guidelines, the board will also consider the offense Pistorius was convicted of, his conduct in prison, whether he took part in educational or other training courses, his mental and physical state, whether he's likely to "relapse into crime" and the risk he poses to the public.

Of all the factors, legal experts say that the behavior of Pistorius while in prison would likely be the most important consideration.

Pistorius' parole lawyer, Julian Knight, has previously said Pistorius has been a "model prisoner." He didn't respond to messages seeking comment ahead of the parole hearing.

A number of options are available to the parole board: Pistorius could be released on full parole or placed on day parole, where he would be allowed to live and work in the community during the day but have to return to prison at night. He could also be placed under correctional supervision, which means he would be released but have to spend some of his time during the week at a correctional center.

Pistorius' parole could be denied, where the board usually asks the offender to reapply at a later stage.

Any parole would likely come with conditions, legal expert Marius du Toit said, such as restrictions on Pistorius' movements.

Once hailed as an inspirational figure for overcoming the adversity of his disability, Pistorius' murder trial and downfall captivated the world. His conviction eventually led to him being sent to the Kgosi Mampuru II maximum security prison, one of South Africa's most notorious.

He was moved to the Atteridgeville prison in 2016 because that facility is better suited to disabled prisoners. Pistorius's lower legs were amputated when he was a baby because of a congenital condition and he walks with prosthetics.

There have been glimpses of his life in prison, with reports claiming he had at one point grown a beard, gained weight and taken up smoking and was unrecognizable from the world-famous athlete he once was.

He has spent much of his time working in an area of the prison grounds where vegetables are grown, sometimes driving a tractor, and has reportedly been running bible classes for other inmates.

There have also been flashes of trouble. Pistorius suffered an injury in an altercation with another inmate over a public telephone at the prison in 2017. A year earlier, Pistorius received treatment for injuries to his wrists, which his family denied were a result of him harming himself and were a result of him falling in his cell.

If Pistorius is released, he is expected to live at his uncle's mansion in the Pretoria suburbs. He lived there under house arrest for a time during his murder trial.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.