A man who has spent nearly half his life in prison for the killings of an elderly Waikato couple will remain behind bars for at least another year.
Leith Rex Ray was 19 when he and Gresham Marsh, then 22, murdered John, 83, and Josie, 72, Harrisson in their home near Ngaruawahia in May 1994.
Mr Harrisson was shot four times and his wife was shot twice during a home invasion.
Both Ray and Marsh were convicted to life imprisonment.
Ray did not seek release from prison on parole but requested to be transferred to prison self-care units, Fairfax reported.
The parole board hearing report for Ray issued by Judge David Carruthers on Tuesday says the Harrisson family strongly oppose his release.
"They remain of the view that life imprisonment should mean exactly that, but in spite of that they also ask whether he has demonstrated appropriate change so that it is safe for him to be released."
The family also questioned whether Ray had given up his drug habits and asked whether there had been any real change in his behaviour.
In the report, Mr Carruthers says Ray struggled to answer questions relating to how he had changed since undergoing treatment in prison.
"He is otherwise doing well in his behaviour in prison but he has not demonstrated to us by the adequacy of his answers that he has, in fact, learned anything from the time when he committed these murders all those years ago, and he seems to be denying some opportunities for that to be tested, in any event, in the usual way."
Ray is classified as having a moderate risk of re-offending.
Ray will be up for parole in February 2013 while Marsh was denied parole late last year and will appear again this year.
NZN