National
June Steenkamp speaks out on Reeva─── 11:32 Tue, 23 Sep 2014
Port Elizabeth - Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, has no kind words for Oscar Pistorius - and has suggested that the couple were heading for a split before Reeva was fatally shot by the Paralympian on Valentine's Day last year.
Barry and June Steenkamp have described to UK magazine Hello! their outrage after Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that Pistorius was guilty only of culpable homicide, not murder.
June said the verdict meant that Pistorius, 27, will not "pay properly for killing our lovely daughter".
She told the magazine: "I also believe she was his trophy and that he wanted her to be the woman who would help boost his career, not someone to whom he was devoted."
She said the two seemed to be heading for a split.
Steenkamp and Pistorius first came out in public as a couple when they walked hand-in-hand down the red carpet at the 2012 SA Sports Awards.
The Steenkamps shared old pictures of their daughter with the magazine, including ones of Reeva standing in her cot at six months old, and one of the day she graduated from the University of Port Elizabeth with a bachelor of laws degree.
The magazine printed a portrait of Reeva given to them by artist Etmáál van Jaarsveld.
Said June: "Touching and wearing her clothes and jewellery makes me feel closer to her.
"Her white linen is on the bed. It comforts me to know she once slept in it and that, somehow, her essence must still be there."
Pistorius will be sentenced on October 13. The following month June is expected to release a memoir - Reeva: A Mother's Story - detailing her experience of the trial and the events preceding it.
June said the verdict meant that Pistorius, 27, will not "pay properly for killing our lovely daughter".
She told the magazine: "I also believe she was his trophy and that he wanted her to be the woman who would help boost his career, not someone to whom he was devoted."
She said the two seemed to be heading for a split.
Steenkamp and Pistorius first came out in public as a couple when they walked hand-in-hand down the red carpet at the 2012 SA Sports Awards.
The Steenkamps shared old pictures of their daughter with the magazine, including ones of Reeva standing in her cot at six months old, and one of the day she graduated from the University of Port Elizabeth with a bachelor of laws degree.
The magazine printed a portrait of Reeva given to them by artist Etmáál van Jaarsveld.
Said June: "Touching and wearing her clothes and jewellery makes me feel closer to her.
"Her white linen is on the bed. It comforts me to know she once slept in it and that, somehow, her essence must still be there."
Pistorius will be sentenced on October 13. The following month June is expected to release a memoir - Reeva: A Mother's Story - detailing her experience of the trial and the events preceding it.
Timeslive
