Killer's cancer on mend

Mark Lundy. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Convicted killer Mark Lundy appears to be making a full recovery from throat cancer, friends of his victims have been told.

The double murderer has been taking regular trips from his cell at Manawatu Prison to Palmerston North Hospital for chemotherapy.

A friend close to the family said: "His cancer is on the mend. It's too early to say if it's in full remission but the chemo does appear to be working."

The Palmerston North man was sentenced to a minimum 20-year life sentence for killing his wife Christine and 7-year-old daughter Amber with an axe in their home.

Christine's brother Glenn Weggery said he "wasn't overly happy" that Lundy was receiving treatment.

"We have had people who have had to go out of the area for cancer treatment because of staffing problems and you have a convicted murderer who is jumping the queue."

He said the Corrections Department had not informed the family about the hospital visits. "They've told us nothing, apparently it's not their job. You would think when he is getting taken to hospital and any one of us could be there that we would be warned.

"Personally I would love to get my hands on him."

Lundy won't be eligible for parole until 2022.

A former Manawatu Prison guard said he was being kept in a minimum security wing for sex offenders and paedophiles.

A Corrections Department spokeswoman said it would not comment on how prisoners responded to medical treatment.