KEY POINTS:
A close relative of one o f the victims of Stephen Anderson's drug-fuelled shooting rampage in Raurimu in 1997 believes releasing Anderson would put lives at risk.
In one of New Zealand's worst mass killings, Anderson ran amok with a shotgun at his family's lodge at Raurimu in the central North Island on February 8, 1997, killing six people including his father.
Five of the victims were staying at the Andersons' lodge and the sixth victim was a neighbour.
He was later found not guilty of the murders, and of the attempted murder of four others, by reason of insanity.
Today's Sunday Star-Times reports Anderson, now 35, has been living in a transition house in Wellington under supervision for some months.
He has a car, freedom to drive in the community and until recently had been working as a dental assistant.
A mental health source said it would not be long before Anderson was considered for full release, and Health Ministry mental health director Dr David Chaplow said it was possible for someone who had spent a decade in care to be considered for full release.
But the son of one of the people gunned down almost a decade ago in Raurimu said today he believed none of the victims' families would want to see Anderson released.
"Nobody wants that because as model as a citizen can be, what happens when they get out into the public and get back into their old way of life and they do the same thing and someone else gets hurt?," the man said.
" Where he is now he's being monitored. When he gets out who is going to monitor him?"
He said he could not accept today's newspaper report which quoted a mental health source as saying Anderson was "a lovely guy".
"They write it up that he's been such a good boy, well there's other people that have lost members of the family, watching them die in front of them," he said.
"My father was on the road, he hopped in front of the gun to save his daughter-in-law's life and then the guy basically made him beg for his life, then shot him again anyway."
He and his family had no idea Anderson had the level of freedom he currently did, saying authorities did not inform them.
"We're left in the dark," he said.
This meant there was a chance victims' family members could simply bump into Anderson, which would be an unfortunate way to find out, he said.
Despite the time that had elapsed the families were still grieving.
"It still seems like yesterday. No families have gotten over it and they never will."
They would not feel safe if Anderson was released, he said.
"My father had grandkids out there, they all think they're safe because the guy's locked up inside."
Other members of the man's family were at Raurimu on the day of the massacre, but had survived. For them it would be particularly hard.
"I've got other relatives that were part of the shooting and they still think about it today and think 'my God, if he comes out will he come back for us again?'," he said.
"When you know these people are back out in the community you think to yourself 'What if? What if?'."
Changes were needed to the health system to prevent people with psychiatric problems being put back into the community, he said.
"Too many excuses, New Zealand is too quick to make excuses."
At the time of Anderson's trial it was disclosed he was a schizophrenic and a heavy cannabis user. He was also obsessed with guns.
Today's report said he was a model patient who was free from drugs and who took his medication.
If considered for full release clinicians would make a recommendation to the health ministry, and Health Minister Pete Hodgson would make the final decision.
- NZPA
