Oscar Pistorius Denied Parole And Remains Behind Bars for Murdering Girlfriend

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Oscar Pistorius, a former Paralympics star and convicted murderer, has lost his parole hearing to be released from prison early after killing his girlfriend and will remain locked up

Oscar Pistorius, the former Paralympian who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has been denied parole in South Africa.

The 36-year-old had been seeking early release 10 years after the Valentine's Day shooting.

But the prison authorities said he had not served enough time and they would consider the matter again next year.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, when he fired four times through the bathroom door of his high-security house in February 2013. The parole board’s decision was taken at a hearing at the correctional facility on the outskirts of the capital, Pretoria, where the 36-year-old is being held..

Ms Steenkamp's parents welcomed the decision, but said it was not a cause for celebration.

"We miss Reeva terribly and will do so for the rest of our lives. We believe in justice and hope that it continues to prevail," a family statement said.

At a hearing on Friday at the Atteridgeville prison near the capital Pretoria, Steenkamp's mother asked the parole board not to release her daughter's murderer.

Ahead of the hearing, she told reporters he was "not remorseful or rehabilitated."

"I've just received a call from the parole board It is a huge sense of relief for June," Steenkamp's lawyer Tania Koen said.

Pistorius met Steenkamp's parents last year as part of a process that authorities say aims to ensure inmates "acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large."

He was jailed in 2016 for a six-year term, but that sentence increased to 13 years after an appeal by prosecutors who argued the initial sentence was too lenient.

During his highly publicized trial, the man dubbed the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.

He shot her several times through a locked bathroom door in his Pretoria home.

A year before killing Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double amputee to race in the Olympics, competing at the 2012 London Games. He also won several gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics in Athens and Beijing.

He became a household name worldwide and was courted by sponsors, but it all came crashing down after the killing.