11 February 2023 , 13:42
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Reeva Steenkamp's parents have said their daughter's murderer Oscar Pistorius should stay behind bars for life after a haunting prison visit.
Barry Steenkamp said Mr Pistorius broke down and "wailed like a child" when he read out a heart-breaking letter from Reeva's mother, June, during a tense jail visit.
Pistorius has served half his 13 years and five months sentence, which was handed to him for the 2013 Valentine's Day killing of Ms Steenkamp.
However, if he is granted parole he could walk free in a matter of weeks.
The former Paralympic sprinter shot his girlfriend, four times, dead, claiming he mistook her for a burglar at his Pretoria, South Africa, home.
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June and Barry Steenkamp (PA)Speaking on the 10th anniversary of their daughters murder, Barry and June Steenkamp said they initially forgave the athlete for killing their daughter.
But since he refused to admit to them that he deliberately shot his girlfriend of two months, they told the MailOnline they are vehemently opposed to his early release.
Mr Steenkamp: "I told Oscar directly that he had shot my daughter deliberately and he denied it. He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder.
"After all these years we are still waiting for him to admit he did it in anger. That is all we wanted.
Oscar Pistorius leaves the North Gauteng High Court (Getty Images Europe)"If he told me the truth, he would have been a free man by now and I would have let the law take its course over his parole. But I was wasting my time. He is a murderer. He should remain in jail."
Pistorius was revealed to have been a gun fanatic who once fired a gun in in a restaurant and had 10 weapons, including an AK-47.
Stories of his anger were revealed including one where he attacked a woman at a party after she rebuffed his talk of his star status.
Reeva Steenkamp (AFP)In June last year, Mr Pistorius agreed to meet the Steenkamp's as part of South Africa's victim-offender dialogue programme.
Ms Steenkamp, decided not to attend but instead wrote a letter which she gave to her husband to be read to Pistorius.
Mrs Steenkamp told MailOnline: "Oscar has taken a lot away from us and from her. So now instead of getting upset, I get anger. I am angry with him. It is a horrible thing to say, but I can't stand him.
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Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp (AFP/Getty Images)"I don't think that he got enough time and if somebody takes a life they must pay with their life in jail.
"He never showed any remorse to Barry whatsoever. He is a murderer. It drives me crazy too that, 10 years on, he can't accept what he did. He is spoilt and he was adored by young women and men the world over."
She also said she believed her daughter was shot dead deliberately because on that eve of Valentine's Day, Reeva had told Pistorius their brief relationship was over and she was trying to leave his apartment when he attacked and shot her dead as she took refuge in his toilet.