Murderer and rapist Jonathon Bakewell granted release, by SA Parole Board, despite four past breaches and victim’s plea

He raped and killed a woman while on drugs, boasted about his ability to fool drug tests and breached parole four times. And on Friday, this killer will be released back on to Adelaide’s streets.

• Killer rapist ‘bragged’ ahead of new bid for parole, papers claim
• How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription

A man who raped and murdered a woman while affected by drugs and then breached his parole four times will be released from jail again, on Friday — despite the pleas of his victim’s sister.

The Advertiser has confirmed Jonathan Bakewell is set to be released, by the Parole Board, under strict conditions of electronic monitoring and drug testing.

Since June, Eileen Culleton — sister of Bakewell’s victim, Anne-Marie — has staged a public campaign to keep him behind bars, saying he poses an ongoing threat to women.

Anne-Marie Culleton, who was raped and murdered in 1988. Picture: Supplied by the Culleton family.

On Thursday, Parole Board chair Frances Nelson QC said she sympathised with Ms Culleton’s view, but did not share it given Bakewell’s health problems, including MS and cancer.

“We have done a very careful risk assessment, he does not represent a risk to the community,” she said.

“In any event, his health is so compromised now that he needs ready access to a hospital.

“I appreciate Ms Culleton is concerned but we will monitor his every movement … it’s not our role to punish the man but to assess the risk, and we have done that.”

Ms Culleton said that “meant absolutely nothing”.

“Women in SA will not be able to sleep safely in their beds anymore, it’s as simple as that,” she said.

“I’m calling on the State Government, again, to urgently investigate the Parole Board’s decision.

“If the Board can release a drug-addicted rapist and murderer who’s breached parole four times, who else is it releasing into the community that we don’t know about?”

In February 1988, while affected by cannabis, Bakewell — now 58 — raped and murdered Anne-Marie, 20, in her NT flat.

He was jailed for life but, in 2005, transferred to SA’s prison system to be close to his dying father.

Jonathon Bakewell, right, is escorted by a police officer, left, off a plane at the Darwin Airport after his arrest in 1988.

Eileen Culleton has fought to stop Bakewell’s release.

Bakewell’s four previous attempts at parole have all failed, with some seeing him jailed again for using cannabis.

In June, Eileen Culleton broke her decades-long silence over the case to call for the cancellation of Bakewell’s parole.

She presented the Parole Board with a 53-page submission protesting his release, including accounts from eyewitnesses attesting to Bakewell’s good physical fitness.

The submission further asserted Bakewell had bragged about being able to avoid drug testing.

The board, however, has maintained Bakewell “does not present a threat” because of his “tonsillar carcinoma, multiple sclerosis, hypothyroidism and issues with cholesterol”.

On Thursday, Ms Nelson acknowledged Bakewell’s previous parole releases had been unsuccessful.

“We are not condoning nor ignoring his drug use, however we have to look at the whole picture,” she said.

“He has otherwise been compliant, reporting regularly and showing no inclination toward reoffending.”

Ms Culleton said the issue was not punishment, but protection.

“This is a man who has bragged about evading drug tests, who has breached parole, who has no regard for the law,” she said.

“This is a man who is as dangerous today as he was 31 years ago when he raped and murdered my sister – a man who has no remorse.”