Olympian Oscar Pistorius Loses Bid to Get Out of Jail Early After Murdering Girlfriend

Oscar Pistorius was denied parole on Friday, forcing him to proceed serving his homicide sentence for the 2013 killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The Paralympic gold medalist, 36, had hoped to be launched from jail early. However at a closed-door listening to, a South African parole board discovered that Pistorius nonetheless poses a risk to public security.

He’ll now have to attend one other 12 months earlier than making use of for parole once more. Earlier than the listening to began Friday, Steenkamp’s mom, June Steenkamp, informed reporters that she was towards Pistorius’ launch.

“I don’t consider his story,” she stated as she arrived on the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria, based on the BBC. “I don’t consider Oscar is remorseful… or rehabilitated.”

On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Pistorius fired 4 gunshots via a toilet door at his dwelling in Pretoria. Three of the bullets struck Steenkamp, who was on the opposite aspect, and he or she died from her accidents. At his homicide trial the next 12 months, Pistorius claimed that he had mistaken Steenkamp, for an intruder and that he didn’t imply to kill her.

Prosecutors countered that he had acted intentionally after an argument with Steenkamp, 29 and he was discovered responsible of culpable murder. He was initially sentenced to a most five-year sentence, however his conviction was later upgraded to homicide and his sentence prolonged to 13 years and 5 months in 2017.

Talking earlier than the parole listening to Friday, the Steenkamps’ lawyer, Tania Koen, stated Pistorius’ sufferer’s mother and father maintained their perception that he supposed to kill Reeva, and that the homicide was a lifelong sentence for them. “For them, it’s 10 missed birthdays, it’s 10 Mom’s Days, Father’s Days, Christmases, so time hasn’t healed for them,” Koen stated. “They don’t really feel that he ought to be launched.”

Final 12 months, Pistorius met with Steenkamp’s father, Barry, as a part of a “victim-offender dialogue” program. The parole board additionally took into consideration Pistorius’ disciplinary report whereas serving his sentence and the tutorial and coaching programs wherein he’d participated during the last decade, however however dominated towards his launch.

Pistorius—who was dubbed the “Blade Runner” due to the prosthetic legs on which he ran—was thought-about a sporting hero earlier than his stunning homicide trial. He made historical past on the 2012 Olympic Video games when he grew to become the primary double-amputee to compete on the Olympics.