Oscar Pistorius said Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend he was convicted of murdering on Valentine’s Day 2013, would want him to go free.
He said on Thursday during a television interview due to be broadcast soon, that she would want him to dedicate his life to charity, rather than wasting it behind bars.
“I don’t want to go back to jail. I don’t want to have to waste my life sitting there,’’ he said.
The 29-year-old gold medallist, known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, is awaiting sentencing for her murder on July 6.
He said that if he managed to avoid imprisonment, he would like to help the less fortunate.
“I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me that she would want me to live that life,” he said.
A report said that in the interview, filmed at his uncle’s house in Pretoria, Pistorius often broke down in tears as he described the events of that night.
Pistorius explained that “I opened the toilet door and immediately when I saw Reeva she was over the toilet.
“She had slumped over the toilet and at that point I knew that I had killed her,’’ he said.
A report noted that Steenkamp’s family has not commented on Pistorius decision to give his first television interview since her death.
It, however, said that the prosecutors have questioned why he felt unable to give testimony, but was willing to talk to journalists, accusing him of showing no remorse.
The prosecution said Pistorius deliberately murdered his girlfriend after she locked herself in the bathroom during a late-night argument.
Meanwhile, the television station said that Steenkamp’s family had declined an interview.
The athlete was originally jailed for five years for culpable homicide, South Africa’s version of manslaughter, and then released on parole after serving less than a year.
But the conviction was later upgraded to murder on appeal.
Pistorius reached the pinnacle of his fame in London 2012 when he became the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, reaching the 400 metres semi-finals, before taking two golds in the Paralympics. (Reuters/NAN)