Yahoo Finance Oscar Pistorius ‘moved prisons to meet with parents of murdered Reeva Steenkamp’
Oscar Pistorius has reportedly moved prisons so that the parents of murdered Reeva Steenkamp can speak to him about his crime.
The disgraced ex-Paralympian shot his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in the couple’s Pretoria home. He was later sentenced to 13 years and five months for the 2013 murder.
He was secretly moved on Friday to a prison in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape for a ‘victim-offender’ dialogue with Steenkamp’s parents, Barry, 78, and June, 74.
The meeting comes after the South African ex-runner wrote to Ms Steenkamp’s parents in October, reports the Daily Mail.
When news of Pistorius becoming eligible for parole broke earlier this month, the couple’s lawyer Tania Koen said they would be willing to talk to him.
She told the national broadcaster SABC that they “would like to participate in the victim-offender dialogue.”
"June has always said that she has forgiven Oscar, however that doesn't mean that he mustn't pay for what he has done,” she said.
“Barry battles with that a bit, but that is something he will have to voice at the appropriate time.”
Pistorius had been in custody at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria, but was moved 750 miles to the St Albans Correctional Centre.
The prison transfer will make it easier for Steenkamp’s parents to meet the man who killed their daughter, according to reports.
If they feel that he has shown remorse, it may influence the decision of whether or not to grant him parole.
However, if released, he will remain on licence for the rest of his life.
Pistorius told his 2014 trial that he had mistaken Ms Steenkamp for a burglar when he shot at her four times through a locked toilet door.
He was originally sentenced to five years for manslaughter, but was later found guilty of murder and his sentence increased.
Ms Steenkamp, a paralegal and a model, had hoped to become a qualified legal advocate before her murder at age 29.
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