Oscar Pistorius offered the family of Reeva Steenkamp 375,000 Rand as compensation for the death of his former girlfriend, a court has heard.
But the Steenkamp's reportedly rejected the payment which they called "blood money" and promised to hand back other payments Pistorius had given them.
Pistroius' probation officer Annette Vergeer revealed details of the payments on the second day of the athlete's sentencing hearing in Pretoria which was watched by his father Henke and Ms Steenkamp's mother June.
Ms Vergeer said Pistorius had been paying 6000 Rand (£350) per month to the Steenkamps as a form of maintenance, or compensation, though the payments stopped a while ago.
Suggesting the athlete was genuinely remorseful for the killing, she told the court he sold one of his cars for 375,000 Rand (£21,274) and offered it to the Steenkamps as a lump sum.
Ms Vergeer said: "He sold his last asset, his motor vehicle and requested the amount be paid into the account of the Steenkamp's lawyers should they wish to accept the amount.
"I was informed they did not want the amount of money offered by the accused."
Cross examinaing Ms Vergeer, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said: "Did you know that the deceased's mother went so far as to say she does not want blood money?"
Ms Vergee replied: "You can place it on record now my lady, that the money was in fact rejected and no further legal action would be taken."
Reporting from Pretoria, Sky's Alex Crawford said: "These payments had not been known before. The Steenkamp's lawyer said this was because Pistorius' defence team asked for it to be kept secret."
When asked about the payments, the Steenkamp's lawyer Dup de Bruyn said: "I am not commenting because I'll get cross-examined about it. They are going to pay back every cent of it."
Ms Vergeer also said Pistorius was sorry and heartbroken at what had happened and that prison "would not assist him but break him".
Fanned herself while in the witness box, Ms Vergeer said Pistorius did not appear to be "such a danger to society" that a prison sentence was required.
However, prosecutor Gerrie Nel suggesting she gave evidence on issues she knew little about.
The athlete arrived at the North Gauteng High Court without his usual phalanx of police or minders, while in an unual move, Judge Thokozile Masipa appeared flanked by six armed guards.
Mikey Schultz, whom South Africa's media has described as a self-confessed 'hitman' was also in court watching proceedings.
Pistorius, 27, was cleared of murdering his former girlfriend but found guilty of culpable homicide - the equivalent of manslaughter in the UK.
The double-amputee Olympian could receive a fine and a suspended jail sentence or as many as 15 years in prison for the convictions.
The prosecution are pushing for him to serve a prison sentence for the killing, while his defence team submit he should serve no more than house arrest or community service. The hearing continues tomorrow.
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