Rape will keep killer locked up

One of New Zealand's most notorious killers will be denied a release from prison even if he is successful at a parole hearing tomorrow.

Paul Bailey is coming up for parole after being given a life sentence for the rape and murder of Owaka schoolgirl Kylie Smith in 1991.

Bailey, armed with a .22 calibre rifle, approached Kylie while she was riding her horse, forced her into his car and drove her into an area of bush where he raped and murdered her.

Bailey was last year sentenced to five years' jail for another rape committed before the murder of Kylie Smith, so therefore cannot be set free until being given parole on that sentence. He is not eligible for parole on the earlier rape until July.

In 2003, the Parole Board postponed Bailey's parole hearing for three years because it did not believe he would be suitable for release without a "significant change in circumstances".

Kylie Smith's mother, Dawn Smith, said there was some relief for her family that Bailey would not be out this week.

"We have worked really hard for the past 14 years to keep him where he is."

Mrs Smith will be at tomorrow's hearing. "When I see him I just stare at him. I just want to get to him."

When he was finally released, her family would simply have to live with it, she said.

"We have often talked of different things we would do. Maybe what goes around comes around. I just hope he's in the North Island and where he is, people know that he is there, because I wouldn't trust him."

Bailey could face charges arising from the death of his baby daughter as police carry out a review of the circumstances of her death in April 1989.

The original police inquiry found 8-week-old Linda Rose Bailey died accidentally after being badly burned when her bassinet caught fire in her home in Ettrick, Central Otago.

Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock began reviewing the baby's death after concerns were raised publicly about how she died.