By Angela Beswick
Convicted double-killer John Barlow has been released from Rimutaka Prison.
A smiling Barlow, now 64, told reporters he planned to head home and relax, 16 years after he gunned down two Wellington businessmen.
Barlow’s wife, Angela Barlow, collected him from Rimutaka Prison shortly before 7am this morning.
“I’m pleased to be leaving,” Barlow told reporters as he left through prison gates, just before 7.30am.
Watch extended footage of John Barlow leaving prison
Corrections Department rehabilitation manager David Wales says anyone entering life on the outside after a long time in jail has a lot of readjusting to do.
“For anyone leaving prison after a long sentence, there will be some challenges in adjusting to life in the community after spending time in prison,” he told RadioLIVE.
Watch the full interview with John Barlow
Barlow was convicted in 1995 of the murder of father and son Eugene Thomas, 68 and Gene Thomas, 30, a year earlier. The men were found shot in their office in Wellington.
The men were scheduled for a meeting with Barlow on the day of the murder and he admitted to police having seen their bodies.
Police found a landfill receipt in Barlow’s car, a box of bullets matched to those found at the murder scene, a gun they believed to be the murder weapon and a silencer.
Barlow, who has always maintained his innocence, admitted the weapons were his but says he did not commit the murders.
Barlow was tried three times before he was convicted.
In two previous trials the juries were not able to come to unanimous verdict.
After the Privy Council dismissed an appeal to overturn the guilty verdict in 2009, Barlow accepted that he had exhausted his legal options and would remain a convicted murderer, but continued to maintain his innocence.
In deciding to release Barlow last week the Parole Board said he had made significant progress toward “reintegration” into the community and stayed free of misconduct.
Barlow told the board he no longer had an interest in guns.
The board ruled Barlow’s wife would be able to support them if he were released, and he is able to “usefully occupy his time”.
Corrections Rehabilitation and Reintegration Assistant General Manager, David Wales, talks to RadioLIVE about the process of reintegrating prisoners into society (audio)
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