Timebomb of grief finally erupts in Paul Denyer parole eligibility

A time­bomb of grief planted three decades ago by the Victorian Court of Appeal detonated this week as serial killer Paul Denyer became eligible for parole.

Serial killer Paul Denyer.

For the families and friends of Paul Denyer’s three victims, a time­bomb of grief planted three decades ago by the Victorian Court of Appeal detonated this week as the serial killer became eligible for parole.

A Victorian MP who was the boyfriend of Denyer’s third victim has described the overturning of the original Supreme Court sentence guaranteeing the serial killer would die behind bars to a ‘‘30-year course of worry’’.

David Limbrick, the Liberal Democrats Upper House MP who was dating Natalie Russell at the time of her death, said the decision to rip up judge Frank Vincent’s sentence shattered family and friends at the time and had retraumatised them all these decades later.

‘‘We were devastated then as we felt it was a just and correct sentence,’’ Mr Limbrick said.

‘‘The impact of that decision has been that we were set on this 30-year course of worry. We have been worried for the last 30 years that he would be eligible for parole. And now he is.

‘‘No one has ever been able to provide certainty that he will not harm another woman, no one can guarantee that.’’

Justice Vincent sentenced Den­yer to life in prison with no parole for the 1993 murders of Elizabeth Ann-Marie Stevens, 18, Deborah Anne Fream, 22, and 17-year-old Russell.

In sentencing Denyer to die in jail, Justice Vincent took into account advice from forensic psychiatrists and psychologists that the 21-year-old suffered from a ‘‘sadistic personality disorder’’.

‘‘I have been told that you obtain immense gratification from the humiliation, mutilation and killing of other human beings,’’ Justice Vincent said at the sentencing hearing on December 20, 1993.

He went on to say that ‘‘importantly, there is no known way of dealing with the problem which may well last for life’’ before concluding: ‘‘You do constitute such a danger, and at our present state of knowledge, apart from separating you from society, there is nothing that can be done about it.

‘‘Perhaps there will come a day when you will be able to walk among the ordinary people of our community. Whether you will ever do so must await the passage of years and decision of the executive government of the time.’’

In sentencing Denyer, Justice Vincent said ‘‘your conduct, as you remorselessly hunted down and killed three young people, is ­almost beyond comprehension’’ and he reflected on the broader community fear generated from the seven-week killing spree.

‘‘The apprehension that you have occasioned to many thousands of women in our community will be felt for a very long time,’’ he said.

‘‘For many, you are the fear that quickens their steps as they walk along or that causes parents to look anxiously at a clock when a child is late.’’

Six months later, in a split 2-1 decision, the Court of Appeal overturned Justice Vincent’s sentence, and set a 30-year minimum term before Denyer would be eligible for release. The court found the judge had ‘‘abrogated’’ his duty to pass sentence and it must be ‘‘irrelevant to the sentencing process to have regard to whether the executive government of the day might intervene in the sentence by a court of law’’.

Mr Limbrick said he could still recall the shock of that decision. ‘‘I didn’t really understand the reasons why it happened. I felt it was some failure of the justice system. It felt like a failure to us,’’ he said.

Russell’s parents, Brian and Carmel Russell, were contacted by the Department of Justice late last year to alert them that Denyer would be eligible for parole on April 11.

Since then, the couple says, they have been told nothing.

Victoria’s Adult Parole Board has declined to comment about Denyer’s fate.

Mr Limbrick said months of ­silence from the Department of Justice and the parole board had exacerbated the family’s anxiety.

‘‘I would have expected that the government should be at least briefing friends and families,’’ Mr Limbrick said.

‘‘It’s had a terrible impact. We don’t know how long this process is going to take.

“Is there going to be an ­announcement? We just don’t know.’’