KEY POINTS:
Grieving father Paul Kuchenbecker this week made an impassioned plea for someone to be held accountable for the killing of his son, Karl. Three families who have been through the anguish the Kuchenbeckers are dealing with add their pleas, and tell us how they now feel about the
justice system.
Greg Stenbeck, father of Kylie Jones' fiance, Aaron:
Kylie Jones, a 23-year-old journalist, was stabbed to death in a Glen Innes reserve on June 6, 2000, by convicted rapist Taffy Hotene.
Hotene had been released from prison by the Parole Board two months earlier.
Mr Stenbeck said the justice system had failed Kylie Jones. "Nothing has changed in six years. Despite the promises of every Justice Minister - [Phil] Goff, Matt Robson - nothing has changed."
An external review was needed into what had happened with convicted killer Graeme Burton, he said.
"The internal review is an insult to everyone concerned, simply because they clear themselves, and then not much later, it'll happen again. The Corrections Department and the Parole Board have no conscience ... If collectively they had a conscience, there would be something admitting the obvious glaring problems."
Tai Hobson, husband of Mary Hobson:
Mary Hobson was one of three people murdered by William Bell in December 2001 at the Panmure RSA. Bell was paroled after being jailed for aggravated robbery.
Mr Hobson has fought for compensation through the courts, and now wants an ex-gratia payment from the Government - and a formal apology.
He says the Government has a moral obligation to take responsibility and accountability for his wife's death, because Bell should not have been out on the street.
"If they did their job properly he wouldn't have been out, he would have been back inside."
In a letter to the Government he says: "Although the first judge at the High Court said he was very sorry for what had happened, no one in the Government has even said sorry, even though your own lawyers told the court that very serious errors were made and that the department must take a real measure of responsibility for that."
Ian Ashley, father of Liam:
Liam Ashley, 17, was bashed and had the life choked out of him in a Chubb prison van in August when violent criminal George Charlie Baker was placed with him, contrary to rules meant to keep adults and youths apart.
Mr Ashley said he was annoyed by recent reports that the Corrections Department was paying performance bonuses when people were dying because department staff could not make clear decisions in cases like that involving his son or leaving Burton on the loose.
He said responsibility needed to be sheeted home to Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews and minister Damien O'Connor.
"This is nonsense. What does this department have to do to get in trouble? What's the matter with these people. Preventing death is not even a priority to them. The family of Burton's latest murder victim need to hold someone accountable. I need to as well, and I haven't given up yet."
What the parole board says
Parole Board chairman Judge David Carruthers:
"I am shocked by the tragedy that has occurred; every member of the board is appalled at this set of circumstances. We view the situation regarding Mr Burton with the utmost seriousness. We have begun a review of the decisions and the information available to the board, regarding the release of Mr Burton.
"The independence and integrity of such a review is vital, and with this in mind, we have chosen to approach his Honour Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson, and will be selecting an international expert on risk analysis, from Australia, to form the review panel.
"The purpose of the review is to examine whether the three decisions leading up to the release of Mr Burton were reasonable given the information available, and to establish what we can all learn from this terrible event.
"Six highly experienced New Zealanders decided to release Mr Burton, based on information provided to them. There are areas which require further examination, which we plan to investigate thoroughly.
"The board makes nearly 9000 decisions a year and sadly, because of the nature of the situations we deal with, and the drug culture present in our communities, it is inevitable that sooner or later, one of the individuals is going to behave in a completely unpredictable way.
"We owe it to the victims of this offending to make sure that we learn what went wrong, in producing this tragedy, and how we can avoid it ever happening again."
