KEY POINTS:
The Corrections Department has effectively cleared itself of any wrongdoing in internal investigations into its handling of Graeme Burton.
After his release on parole, Burton murdered a father-of-two.
We asked: Do you believe the authorities in their investigations?
Karaitiana Wilson
Funny that this man gets to absolve himself of all blame and that it is everyone else's fault. Yet the Corrections Department and Probation Board have to explain their actions. Since when did the the greater moral right have to justify themselves against the word of a convicted murderer?
He seems rather unwell mentally, but don't let this cover the fact that he is more bad than mad. He is a grown man, and made decisions that cost people their lives and destroyed families.
Please don't feed in to his grandiose and inflated opinion of himself and his 'cause'. He is a good argument for life imprisonment being just that. I'd happily pay more tax to keep people like him off the streets and properly reimburse the people that are charged with the care of people of his ilk (prison wardens, social workers, Police, etc).
MJ Bennett
Wednesday's editorial claims that primary blame for Graeme Burton's murder of Karl Kuchenbecker rests with those who released him. Judging by other comments heard in the media, this is a commonly held belief. But while the Parole Board and Department of Corrections are not without fault and have plenty of things that they need to fix, surely primary blame belongs with the murderer himself, Graeme Burton. He was the one who chose to take a kaleidoscope of drugs, appropriate weapons and go on a crazed crime spree. People seem to be forgetting who the real villain in all this is in their hunt for a scapegoat.
Garrett
There is no point blaming the parole board for Burton. Eventually he would have been released regardless. His sentence would end and he would have got out with no supervision required at all. Can anyone safely assume that he wouldn't have gone on a rampage at that point? What miraculous event would have occurred in prison prior to his sentence end date, to change him from being a paranoid ruthless killer to being able to slot seamlessly into society?
Marcia Walker
In my humble opinion I think the parole board and correction department washing their hands of this murder is as much a sickening act as the murder itself. As if those poor families haven't gone through enough to have some bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo fudge over it! I wonder how they sleep in their beds at night knowing how their system failed to protect people? And while they defend themselves saying "there is no blood on our hands", well any half sensible person could retort, "That's because you washed yourselves of it in the blink of an eye mate!". Not good enough!
Rein
Someone has to be held accountable when innocent people are killed. In this case it is them who released Burton before his correction sentence had been completed.
Geoff
Parole Boards have a tough job and I don't envy their positions. But it's time they hardened up and made some senisble decisions. We are turning into a nation of do gooders........shame on you.
Grant Diggle
The Department of Corrections and the Parole Board are deluded if they think the public will buy the white washes both have presented. The Department is a failed and dysfunctional example of the low quality of governance we are forced to put up with. The Parole Board are clearly out of their depth in dealing with serious cases.
In the Westminister tradition both the Minister and Head of the Department must go and be replaced by people who have a clear understanding that the publics patience and tolerance are not boundless.
Similarly the Parole Board must be disbanded and a jury system enacted for serious offenders who must prove there are suitable for release beyond reasonable doubt.
All prisoners should serve their original sentence with time added for any misbehaviour or offending.
Trish Coyle
The Parole Board and the Corrections Department have much blood on their hands.
I am utterly bewildered by all the protestations by spokespersons for these two entities saying that they did the right thing. Well, I was utterly bewildered until I just read the article quoting Graeme Burton. That article is unbelievable. That such an article would be written and published is beyond belief.
This man is being treated like some kind of hero. The fact is he is evil and that evil is exacerbated by the chemicals he ingests. How come he is quoted in the NZ Herald? He has lost all his right to everything and certainly to being heard in the public domain.
Please, stop this nonsense now. The Parole Board made a huge mistake. The Corrections Department made a huge mistake and now the Herald is publishing utter rubbish about Burton's feelings.
Political Correctness has gone crazy in New Zealand.
John Ho
The Parole Board and the Corrections dept. are as guilty as Burton just as if they had pulled the trigger.
