RSA killer appeals against his sentence

2.00pm

Three judges have reserved their decision in an appeal by triple murderer William Bell against his record 33-year non-parole jail sentence.

At the Court of Appeal in Wellington, Bell's counsel, Mark Wotherspoon and Ian Tucker compared Bell's minimum sentence with lesser non-parole periods given to convicted murderers Mark Lundy (20 years) and Bruce Howse (28 years).

Mr Wotherspoon said Bell's non-parole term was outside statutory parameters and would inhibit Bell's incentive for rehabilitation.

"People must be able to change personally," he said.

Bell, 25, was sentenced in February in the High Court at Auckland for the murders of William Absolum, 63, Wayne Johnson, 56, and Mary Hobson, 44, and trying to kill Susan Couch, then 38, at the Mt Wellington-Panmure Returned Services' Association (RSA) on December 8, 2001.

Ms Couch, several members of the victims' families and RSA members were at the Court of Appeal today.

John Pike, for the Crown, said that Bell had planned a robbery at the RSA and had encompassed the ability to kill anyone who came upon him with a callousness never before seen in New Zealand.

"Three people's lives were taken in cold blood," he said.

It was clear to the victims that they were all going to die and Bell had battered his victims because he did not want four gun shots going off as it would ruin his plans.

"Their mental fear cannot be imagined."

"It doesn't matter that it was 33 years for this degree of depravity," Mr Pike said.

"He richly deserved his sentence."

Justice Tipping noted that Bell had been on parole when he committed the killings.

"People get the privilege of going on parole and then do this sort of thing," he said.

Justice Tipping, Justice Anderson, and Justice Sir Kenneth Keith reserved their decision.

- NZPA