'Like a recurring nightmare': Outrage after early day release for killer of three
A man convicted of killing three people and suspected of the murders of four others is reportedly set to re-enter society on early day release with NSW prison authorities' approval.
With four years remaining on his sentence for the bashing murder of his elderly sponsor, Reginald Kenneth Arthurell will go before the Parole Board on Thursday in a bid for early day release, the Daily Telegraph reports.
But one of his victim's relatives said they "can't believe anyone would consider letting him out ever again".
"It is like a recurring nightmare," the unnamed relative said.
Arthurell, 68, was sentenced to 24 years jail in 1997 for the bashing murder of Venet Mulhall, his elderly sponsor whose care he was released into in 1995 when he was paroled for his stepfather's manslaughter, the newspaper reports.
Convicted for killing three people, Arthurell is also the prime suspect in four murders.
Originally from Sydney, Arthurell stabbed his stepfather to death in 1974 during a drunken argument.
He then drifted around Australia, adopting more than 200 aliases.
In 1981 while in the Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek, Arthurell was charged with killing Ross Browning, a 19-year-old naval officer, with another man.
He used a piece of anthill to beat the young officer to death during a robbery gone wrong.
Arthurell was extradited to NSW in 1988 where he finally served 11 years for killing his stepfather.
He was released within three years into the care of Mrs Mulhall, a devout Christian who lived in the central-west NSW town of Coonabarabran.
Mrs Mulhall befriended Arthurell in prison, but soon after she sponsored his release he was back on the lam after cashing fraudulent cheques.
He returned to the rural town in early 1995 and by February he had bashed his elderly sponsor to death – the murder that would see him sentenced to 24 years behind bars.
After only 20 years of his sentence, Corrections NSW has approved Arthurell's release upon recommendations from the NSW Serious Offenders Review Council that he should be granted partial pre-release.
The recommendation has the approval of Corrections Minister David Elliot, who said the pre-release would help Arthurell "reintegrate" back into the community.
"Arthurell's crimes were horrific and it sickens me to think that his sentence will one day expire and he will be released from prison," he said.
"This reinforces our obligation to ensure that he can safely reintegrate into the community when that day comes."
In spite of the push for pre-release, Arthurell is suspected in the murder of 82-year-old Kate Page, who was beaten to death in Coonamble in 1971.
He was also wanted for questioning in the 1978 "Wolf Creek-style" shootings of two men and a woman near Mount Isa in 1978.
Ray Webber, a former constable who hunted Arthurell over Mrs Page's bludgeoning, told The Daily Telegraph the convict was a serial killer in league with backpacker murderer Ivan Milat.
"I don't believe he should get out of jail, ever. No way," Mr Webber said.
