Brisbane’s brutal double axe murderer Peter William Neyens fights for parole

A double axe murderer who was given a life sentence for slaughtering his housemates in their sleep and dumped their bodies in a bushland has made yet another attempt at parole.

Murder victims Bobbi-Lee Sheehy, 29, and Timothy Caddy, 40.

A double axe murderer who slaughtered his own housemates in their sleep and dumped their bodies in a Brisbane bushland has made yet another attempt at parole.

Peter William Neyens was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for the brutal axe murders of Bobbi-Lee Sheehy, 29, and her boyfriend Timothy Caddy, 40.

Neyens had crept up on the couple – who were his housemates – as they slept and attacked them with an axe at a Coopers Plains house in 1999.

He then dumped the bodies in bushland near Mt Nebo.

Neyen became eligible for parole in 2019, but was declared a “restricted prisoner” by the Parole Board in March last year.

The declaration meant his parole application at the time was refused, and he will be barred from applying again while it remains in place.

Neyens has since sought judicial review, arguing that the decision to declare him a restricted prisoner declaration involved an “error of law”.

He argued that Michael Byrne KC, president of the Parole Board, had not considered whether parole conditions would mitigate the risk of his release.

Arrested suspect William Peter Neyens is led into Brisbane Watchhouse on July 1, 1999

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill previously dismissed the matter last December.

She noted at that time: “It is possible that, in a particular case, the risk to the public may be low, yet the nature, seriousness and circumstances of the offence(s) and the likely effect that the prisoner’s release on parole may have on the victims’ family may be such that warrants the making of the declaration, in the public interest.”

Neyens has since taken the matter a step further and has sought that Justice Bowskill’s order be set aside.

He argued on appeal that she made an error in saying the Parole Board was not required to consider whether parole conditions would mitigate his risk.

But in a Supreme Court of Appeal decision delivered on Tuesday, November 5, Justice John Bond found there was no error made and dismissed Neyen’s appeal.

“The Chief Justice is not to be taken to be suggesting that evidence that risk might be ameliorated by the parole board’s imposition of non-mandatory conditions is necessarily irrelevant to the overall assessment of public interest,” he said.

As a result, Neyens will remain barred from applying for parole until the restricted prisoner declaration ends on September 4, 2026.

He is currently incarcerated at Wolston Correctional Centre.