A man convicted of murdering his wife has been released from prison after 20 years, despite still denying the murder and not revealing where her body is.
James Dahlberg, now 70, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for the murder of his estranged wife Anne Urquhart, whose bloodstained clothes were found in the Golden Downs forest, south of Nelson.
Her body was never found and Dahlberg's conviction was based largely on circumstantial evidence.
Dahlberg became eligible for parole in 2001 and was declined each time, until his last appearance before the Parole Board in December, which agreed to his release this month.
The board said that with extensive support and parole conditions, Dahlberg would not be an undue risk to the safety of the community.
Previously he had appeared comfortable in prison but the board noticed a change during the past 18 months and he had worked on a release and relapse prevention plan.
Two of the conditions of parole are that Dahlberg cannot own firearms or enter the Nelson area for the rest of his life.
NZN