Robert Theo Sievers: Man who claimed to be ‘battered husband’ in two murder cases dies in Long Bay Correctional Centre

A two-time wife killer – who claimed he was a ‘battered husband’ in two separate murder trials – has been found dead in his cell inside a Sydney prison.

JUNE 7, 2001 : Convicted murderer Robert Sievers in 07/06/01 Northam Police Station photo, is accused of stabbing girlfriend Michelle Campbell to death, while on parole, at her Lakemba home in 07/00. NSW / Crime / Murder P/

A two-time wife killer – who claimed he was provoked into murdering both of his partners two decades apart – has been found dead in his cell inside a Sydney prison.

Robert Theo Sievers was discovered unresponsive at Long Bay Correctional Centre about 5.10am on May 12, Corrective Services NSW reports.

The 81-year-old was jailed for life on December 18, 2002 after he killed his wife Michelle Campbell in their Lakemba home on July 4, 2000.

The southwest Sydney man – who pleaded not guilty to murder at the time – claimed “battered husband” syndrome was the reason he stabbed his wife repeatedly with a kitchen knife.

However, the same excuse was used when he applied to the Supreme Court to have a life sentence for the murder of his first wife in 1982.

Diana Sievers was shot in the head eight times while trying to call police.

Sievers’ successful application to Supreme Court Justice James Wood in 1992 saw his sentence for the murder of his first wife Diana Sievers reduced to 12 and a half years, after he claimed he was rehabilitated and had “found god”.

Michelle Campbell in undated copy photo who was stabbed to death by convicted murderer Robert Sievers, while on parole, at her Lakemba home in 07/00.

Later that same year, Sievers was released from custody and – just eight years later – had killed again when he repeatedly stabbed his 33-year-old wife, Michelle Campbell.

In 2002, Supreme Court Justice Brian Sully sentenced Sievers to life in prison, after the court heard the then 60-year-old had discarded his wife’s body near Kempsey after driving around for three days with her body in the boot of his car.

NewsLocal understands 81-year-old Sievers was transferred to Long Bay Correctional hospital’s palliative care unit.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said the man was “found unresponsive at about 5.10am and was pronounced deceased a short time later”.

“As a matter of protocol, Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police investigate all deaths in custody regardless of the circumstances,” she said.

The death is not being treated as suspicious.