Wife killer freed after 20 years

File photo / NZ Herald

Convicted murder James Herbert Dahlberg has been released from prison, 20 years after he was jailed for killing his estranged wife.

Ann Urquhart's body has never been found and the conviction was made on circumstantial evidence after Dahlberg was sighted in the Golden Downs forest near Nelson, close to where Ms Urquhart's bloodstained clothes were located.

She is thought to have been killed in October 1991.

In 1992, Dahlberg was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.

He became eligible for parole in October 2001 but was denied 15 times.

However, after another hearing on December 1 he was approved for release.

The Department of Corrections confirmed Dahlberg had been released from prison but would not say when.

It is understood he was released today.

The latest Parole Board decision said Dahlberg would not pose an undue risk to the community on release.

Any risk he did pose could be managed by the "extensive and realistic support'' available to him in the community.

His release conditions include that he does not enter the province of Nelson for the rest of his life and that he does not own a firearm.

He will also have to undertake counselling or treatment as directed by his probation officer and is not to have contact with any of the victims of his offending.

Dahlberg continues to plead his innocence.

The decision said this continued to compound the pain Ms Urquhart's family felt.

"While he is aware of their views and their opposition to his release, he has never wavered from his position.''