A former Royal New Zealand Air Force sergeant who
murdered his first wife will remain behind bars after the Parole Board
deemed he poses an undue risk to his current wife's safety.
Warwick
Keith Bennett was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994 after he was
found guilty of murdering his first wife, Yvonne Bennett, 12 years
earlier. He buried her body in a forest and was only caught out when he
boasted to a colleague in 1992 that her body would never be found.
Bennett
was released on parole in 2004, but was recalled to prison in April
last year following a domestic dispute with his current wife, after she
gave her cellphone number to another man in a bar.
Bennett's wife was at the Parole Board hearing in December and made a written submission in support of him.
The
Parole Board's report, released on Wednesday, says two psychologists
came to differing conclusions about the risk posed by Bennett.
The board shared the view of the psychologist who deemed Bennett more of a risk.
The
psychologist concluded that since his release, Bennett has "recurrently
behaved in ways reminiscent of the way in which he behaved in the time
period leading up to and following the murder of his wife".
The
board said there was a clear pattern of risk behaviour associated with
Bennett's need to control and manipulate long-term relationships.
It was also concerned that in his oral submission, Bennett told the board, "I am not a risk. I have never been a risk".
The
board concluded that given the ongoing problems in his relationship
with his wife, which had led to them living apart, Bennett presents an
undue risk to her safety and parole was denied.
NZN