Timing of killer's release upsets victim's family

Natalie Fenton. Photo / Supplied

The timing of a teenage murderer's release from prison could be reviewed if it clashes with the anniversary of her victim's death.

After being locked up since for more than half of her life, the Parole Board, in a decision released yesterday, has decided Natalie Fenton will be released from prison in April.

She and two other teenagers, sister Katrina Fenton and Daniella Bowman, were found guilty of murdering South Auckland man Raymond Mullins on April 1, 1999.

Following an argument over money, Fenton stabbed him with a steak knife.

After her release she'll be subject to strict parole conditions, including an overnight curfew and a ban from central and west Auckland and Rotorua, where members of Mr Mullins' family who are registered victims with the Parole Board live.

Mr Mullins' daughter Leigh-Anne Mullins said today the family was upset at the timing of the release and their understanding Fenton was to live in South Auckland, where family members who are not registered victims reside.

A Parole Board spokesman said today: "The release is not near any of the registered victims."

The board might though be prepared to look at the release date if it clashed with the anniversary of Mr Mullins' death.

Based on the reports it had, it was not aware of the offending date, the spokesman said.

Miss Mullins said she would normally take time out to gather herself as April 1 approached.

"There are lots of negatives from it but I try to remember the good times as I was growing up. I lost him very young.

"He's missed out on my kids growing up, those sorts of milestones, my grandchildren, his great-grand children."

Katrina Fenton was released on parole in 2012, while Bowman remains in jail after she was recalled following her parole in 2014.

Miss Mullins said she and her family remained opposed to any of them being released and, in Natalie Fenton's case, would like it if she were at least further away.

She's not scared of Fenton, but Miss Mullins doesn't want a chance meeting to ever happen.

"When I do go to Auckland I don't want to be looking over my shoulder and there she is," Miss Mullins said.

"I feel very strongly that I need to be a voice because my father's not here to defend himself. With those sexual allegations the defence lawyers used, he wasn't there to defend himself. They killed him for $500 to go to a 21st up north."

In 2011, despite the Mullins family saying it didn't want to receive any communication from the jailed murderers, a letter from Fenton managed to slip through to them.

An added insult was Fenton calling Mr Mullins "Raymond Miller".

Fenton has a job and accommodation lined up and is banned from contacting Mr Mullins' family and the other two offenders.

Before she was taken into custody she'd racked up 14 convictions, including ones for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.