Parole denied frozen dog-roll killer who won't confess

A man who stabbed his first wife, bashed his second wife to death with a dog roll and was jailed for the killing of a third partner has been denied parole.

Malcolm Alan Francis was convicted of manslaughter in 2003 after killing Cambodian woman Wathanak Tea. Her body has never been found but a High Court jury found him guilty after hearing blood was splattered around her Johnsonville flat.

Francis was initially charged with murder but the charge was reduced to manslaughter. He was also found guilty of manslaughter in 1984 after he killed his wife in Hastings.

Medical evidence presented at that trial showed Francis beat wife Janet violently with a frozen dog roll, causing the massive internal damage, bleeding and shock that led to her death.

He had previously stabbed his first wife, Francoise, in the neck, when they lived in the UK, but she survived.

At a Parole Board hearing on March 11, Judge Peter Butler said Francis could not be released from prison as he continued to deny his offending against Tea and maintain that he was "completely innocent".

Butler said Francis had never undergone a psychological assessment, which was another reason for keeping him in jail.

"We could not possibly be satisfied as to the statutory test for parole without such an assessment and without some treatment options."

He ordered Francis to undergo a psychological assessment before his next hearing, before the extended board.