Reeva Steenkamp's mother says she's 'lost hope Pistorius will give up truth'
Reeva Steenkamp's mum spoke of her heartbreak as she claimed hopes were fading that Oscar Pistorius would ever reveal the truth about the night he shot and killed her
The ex-Paralympian is due to be released from prison on Friday after serving only half his 13-year sentence for killing his girlfriend, a paralegal and model from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Mum June Steenkamp spoke out ahead of his freedom, as she revealed she also blames him for her husband's death.
British-born Mrs Steenkamp, originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, said the double-amputee athlete had stolen her dreams of ever becoming a grandmother. The widow lost her husband, Barry, last September after suffering from years of ailing health which she attributes to his broken heart.
Pistorius, 37, shot Ms Steenkamp four times through a bathroom door at his home in Pretoria in February 2013, later claiming he had mistaken her for an intruder. He was jailed for six years in October 2014 after being convicted of culpable homicide, although this was later overturned by a Supreme Court and changed to a murder conviction with the sentence lengthened to 13 years and five months.
(FRENNIE SHIVAMBU/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Reeva was shot four times through a bathroom door (Getty Images)But despite the court conviction, Mrs Steenkamp said her family was never given the full truth about Reeva's murder and remains furious her killer is being released this week. Along with late-husband Barry, she met with Pistorius in 2022 through a rehabilitation programme where, she claims, he broke down in tears but refused to admit he had deliberately shot Reeva.
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She told MailOnline: "If she had never met Oscar, I imagine today Reeva would be happily married, a loving young mother with everything to live for, and a lot of cats and dogs, with maybe a horse or two. Reeva's dream was to become a mother as she loved children so much and told me and her father that her own babies would make her life complete."
Convicted murderer Pistorius maintains his story that the shooting was a case of mistaken identity (AFP/Getty Images)Pistorius has maintained his story over the years that he mistook Reeva for an intruder when he fired the gun at the bathroom door in the early hours of Valentine's Day, 2013. Despite not relenting on his version of events, Mrs Steenkamp has said she has come to forgive him for her own sake.
She added: "I have lost any hope that Oscar Pistorius will ever disclose the truth of what happened that night." Reeva's parents have told previously how they endured vile trolling throughout Pistorius' trial from his supporters.
The murder, Mrs Steenkamp added, had also taken away her family's privacy over recent years and often faced abuse "as if we had been the ones who did something wrong". On Friday, the Department of Correctional Services said that once released, Pistorius will be monitored by the authorities until his sentence officially expires "just like all other parolees".
During that time, if he wants to move house or get a job, he will need to notify his parole officer.
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