Oscar Pistorius is expected to meet Reeva Steenkamp’s parents to persuade them that he deserves parole to commit her murder.
The 35-year-old former Paralympian has been moved 750 miles to another prison for a meeting with the family of the girlfriend he shot dead on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Pistorius could be eligible for parole soon, but Barry Steenkamp, who is 78 and June, who are 74, must give him an opportunity to speak with them about the crime.
Pistorius sent the couple a October letter in which he hoped to establish contact for his first time since his trial.
The Steenkamps told their lawyer, Tania Koen, that the letter coming out of the blue was like ‘ripping a Band-Aid’ off a wound.
The 35-year-old former Paralympian has been moved 750 miles to another prison for a meeting with the family of the girlfriend he shot dead on Valentine’s Day in 2013
However, they decided this was an opportunity to find the truth about Pistorius.
He has been serving his sentence of 13 years and five months at the ‘comfy’ Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
Miss Steenkamp’s father, who has been treated for a heart condition, said the journey there would have been too long and Pistorius has been brought to the St Albans Correctional Centre a 15-minute drive from their home in Port Elizabeth.
It will be a factor in the parole board’s decision to release him if the couple believes he is showing remorse. According to reports, the Steenkamps would be driving to the jail next week in order for them meet.
A warder at St Albans said: ‘Pistorius arrived late on Friday and is being temporarily kept in a single cell far away from everyone else.’
An hour before dawn that day Pistorius was ‘ghosted’ out of Atteridgeville and driven the 750 miles to St Albans.
Pistorius may be close to parole, but he must first allow Barry Steenkamp (78) and June Steenkamp (74), the chance to question him about his crime.
He was transported to prison in a van and two police cars as support during the 13-hour trip.
Described as a ‘hell hole’, St Albans houses 3,200 of the most dangerous killers and rapists in South Africa. Pistorius will be spared from the general cells, which are believed to house up to 44 prison inmates.
In July, the Supreme Court of Appeal declared that the 506 days served by him before he was sent to prison had not been included in the sentence.
He was initially sentenced to five years’ prison in October 2014 for culpable homicide but the state challenged the verdict and a year later it was changed to murder and 13 years and five months.
He said that he wanted to protect Reeva and mistakenly believed an intruder was at his bathroom.
Pistorius, 29 and a crawler on his stumps in his bedroom with his pistol, shot the model four times.
After being fitted with prosthetics that allowed him to run and walk, he was nicknamed Blade Runner. Because of a birth defect, both his lower legs had to be amputated at 11 months.
Miss Steenkamp’s parents have said that, as Christians, they have forgiven him. Earlier this year they went on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, speaking from their home, saying they believed Pistorius had shown no remorse. They have also said they ‘are not emotionally prepared but will meet him’.
Pistorius will be released on a life-long licence. He can also be recalled for any subsequent crime.
Friends have told him that he hopes to bring sport to the needy.