New parole bid for Tamihere

David Tamihere (C) was convicted of the murder of two Swedish holiday makers. File photo / NZ Herald

Convicted double murderer David Wayne Tamihere will this week make his seventh bid for freedom.

Tamihere, now 55, is due to face the Parole Board again this week after being denied parole six times previously.

The brother of talkback host and former MP John Tamihere was found guilty 19 years ago of murdering Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin, 23, and Heidi Paakkonen, 21, in April 1989.

Yesterday his wife, Kris, said she had spoken to David in prison.

"He's not hopeful [of being released]," she said. "We don't have any expectations. I think it will be the status quo."

During the trial in 1990, the prosecution claimed Tamihere stole Hoglin's watch and gave it to his son Jon.

Hoglin's body, still with the watch, was found in October 1991 about 70km from where police said the murders occurred.

The body of Heidi Paakkonen has never been found.

The missing body and the fact that Tamihere continues to deny the murders have been major factors in the Parole Board's decision to deny Tamihere his freedom.

In its latest decision, released last year, the board said police had argued against releasing Tamihere until the location of Paakkonen's body was disclosed "so that a grieving family " could celebrate her life and achieve some closure.