Barossa siege Tony Grosser gunman refused parole again, 19 years after shooting of STAR officer
NURIOOTPA siege gunman Tony Grosser - who shot a STAR Group officer 14 times in 1994 - has been refused parole after a second bid for release.
NURIOOTPA siege gunman Tony Grosser has been refused parole after a second bid for release.
The Parole Board of SA has deemed Grosser, who shot STAR Group police officer Derrick McManus 14 times in 1994, is "unsuitable'' for release into the community.
Grosser, who has served 19 years of his 22-year sentence, is now at the low-security Cadell Prison in the Riverland and is being assessed to determine if he will be moved to a higher security facility after the board decision.
Parole Board chairwoman Frances Nelson, QC, disclosed that Grosser had been refused parole but declined to elaborate on the specific reasons.
"The board has developed criteria by which we judge applications for release on parole,'' she said.
"When applied to Mr Grosser he was not suitable for release into the community.''
More: Tory Grosser fears corrupt police, mafia will kill him if released
Mr McManus said he had been advised of the Parole Board decision.
"Whether Grosser is released or not is really of no concern to me. I don't think about Grosser himself much these days,'' he said.
Grosser, now 59, was sentenced to 22 years jail with an 18-year non-parole period after being convicted in 2002 of the attempted murder of Mr McManus. He was originally found guilty in the Supreme Court of one count of attempted murder and five counts of endangering life.
Those convictions were quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1999, and Grosser was ordered to stand trial again. The second conviction followed a marathon 10-month-long trial in which Grosser represented himself.
The trial, estimated to have cost taxpayers more than $3 million, heard evidence from 130 witnesses.
It heard Grosser shot Mr McManus with a semi-automatic rifle at his Nuriootpa house after the officer and five other STAR group colleagues had gone there to arrest him after he failed to attend court.
The incident developed into a 40-hour siege in which more than 2500 rounds of ammunition were fired by Grosser and police.
Police declined to comment on the development, but in anticipation of Grosser's application took the unusual step of obtaining a detailed intervention order against him in Adelaide Magistrates Court.
The order, granted by Magistrate Elizabeth Sheppard on July 22, bans Grosser from attending several Barossa Valley towns and prevents him from going within 200m of five "protected persons'' covered by the order.
He is also banned from any contact with them by any electronic means, following, kidnapping or placing them under surveillance or damaging or interfering with their property.
The order also bans him from entering any "education or care facility'' attended by the protected persons or any such facility located in the Barossa Valley.
He must also surrender any firearms he has and is banned from holding a firearms licence. He is also the subject of a firearms prohibition order.