South African former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius is set to be released on parole, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a crime that shocked a nation long inured to violence against women.
Key points:
- Pistorius has spent about eight and a half years in jail as well as seven months under home arrest
- A parole board in November decided he could be freed after completing more than half his sentence
- He will be under parole until his sentence expires in December 2029
Pistorius — dubbed “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs — shot the 29-year-old model dead through a locked bathroom door on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
He has repeatedly said he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots into the bathroom at his Pretoria home, and he launched multiple appeals against his conviction on that basis.
Pistorius, now 37, has spent about eight and a half years in jail as well as seven months under home arrest before he was sentenced for murder.
A parole board in November decided he could be freed on January 5, 2024, after completing more than half his sentence.
A monitoring official will keep an eye on him until his sentence expires in December 2029, whom Pistorius will have to inform if he seeks job opportunities or moves to a new address.
He is also required to continue therapy on anger management and attend sessions on gender-based violence as part of his parole conditions, a lawyer for the Ms Steenkamp family said in November.
Local media expect him to live at the home of his uncle Arnold Pistorius in a wealthy Pretoria suburb.
Steenkamp’s parents not convinced Pistorius is rehabilitated
Following the parole board decision in November, a spokesperson for Ms Steenkamp’s mother detailed the toll the murder had on her family.
“I’m not convinced that Oscar has been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof,” said June Steenkamp in prepared remarks read by the spokesperson.
Ms Steenkamp’s parents gave an interview to a UK newspaper in February, 2024 for the 10th anniversary of their daughter’s death.
They said they had not forgiven Pistorius, still believed he shot her intentionally in anger and wanted him to stay in prison for the rest of his life.
June Steenkamp attended Pistorius’s first parole hearing in March, 2023 to oppose his release but did not attend the hearing in November.
Ms Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, died in September, 2023.
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Reuters