Freed killer Tamihere keeps his last secret

Swedish tourist Heidi Paakkonen's body is still missing. Photo / Supplied

Convicted double-murderer David Tamihere will be released from prison within days - and he won't have to reveal where Swedish tourist Heidi Paakkonen's body is hidden, as police have long wanted him to do.

Detectives had asked the Parole Board to make it a condition of his release that Tamihere reveal the whereabouts of Ms Paakkonen's body.

Tamihere, 57, has always denied killing her and her fiance, Urban Hoglin, and Parole Board members said that because of this, they saw no point in continually asking for Ms Paakkonen's whereabouts.

In announcing yesterday that he would be paroled on November 15, the board said it had had "robust and vigorous" discussions with Tamihere about his denials. "We feel strongly for the victim's family that they cannot complete the usual funeral and burial procedures ...

"But we record that our attempts have not been successful and we do not think we can take the matter any further."

Tamihere was convicted of killing Ms Paakkonen and Mr Hoglin in 1990. Mr Hoglin's body was found in the Coromandel by pig hunters in 1991.

The couple went missing after going into bush on April 8, 1989.

Last night, Mr Hoglin's brother Stefan told the Herald both families still mourned Heidi and Urban, and wanted Tamihere to reveal the location of her body.

"Maybe some day he will. But he hasn't now for so many years. He's kept it to himself, but one day maybe."

Heidi and Urban's loved ones remembered their brutal deaths constantly, "as if it was yesterday".

"It comes up all the time. Why it happened in New Zealand, such a beautiful country with beautiful people, why it would happen there like that?"

The two families met often. They would have preferred Tamihere to stay in jail forever.

"They have told us he is improving and is a better person and it was coming up now," Mr Hoglin said. "What do we say? It's the law. There's nothing we can do, it's up to the Parole Board."

The families had no option but to hope the board was right to release him.

The Parole Board said that despite Tamihere's denials, the main factor in his release was whether he was likely to be a risk to anyone in the community.

His parole hearing on Monday was his 14th bid for freedom.

The board said it accepted Tamihere wanted to complete his life quietly with his family.

He would not be released to a remote farm owned by his extended family because he could not be electronically monitored there and access to it was hazardous.

Instead, he will be paroled on November 15 to a residential property with strict conditions.

The board decision says Tamihere made a "remarkable" breakthrough with the help of a Maori psychologist.

"He had always in the past resented involvement with psychologists and would not co-operate with them."

But with counselling from the psychologist and support from his family he completed the adult sex offenders' treatment programme.

The psychologist had told the board Tamihere had made remarkable changes since attending the programme - "he has moved from being a very closed person to quite open about all aspects of his past life and is showing increased ability to manage his risk in a satisfactory way".

Previously he abused alcohol but now regarded himself as an alcoholic and said he would never drink again.

"He tells us he is assisted in that regard because the medication he is on for a serious heart condition and other health matters prevents him from drinking," the board decision says.

"But it is clear to us that a special condition that he not consume or possess alcohol or illicit drugs for the whole of his life will be essential in his case."

Tamihere's health situation was serious but stable.

He had been on periods of home leave, and his supporters impressed the Parole Board, which said their involvement was not peripheral or passing.

"It has been conscientious. It has been solid. It has been unchanged and it remains. We have been very impressed by the support he has had from his immediate family and from others in the community."

The board members said they did not believe Tamihere was a danger to the public.

"With the substantial support he has, the remarkable changes which have occurred and the very pro-social people who are involved in his support on release, we are now satisfied it is an appropriate time to release him."

Tamihere was on the run from police for a sexual assault when the tourists were murdered.

He also had a manslaughter conviction for the 1972 killing of an Auckland prostitute.

He was arrested in May 1989 for the sexual assault, but was charged with the murders while he was an inmate at Auckland's Paremoremo Prison. He was found guilty in December 1990.

One of the last people to see Ms Paakkonen alive, Mel Knauf, last night said he was still haunted by the killings, and still wondered what might have happened if he had been more observant.

He and another tramper saw Ms Paakkonen and a man identified as Tamihere in a bush clearing. "I've tortured myself for a long time about this. But it's a dead end."

The 64-year-old said he wished Tamihere would say where Ms Paakkonen's body was hidden.

"If there was one justice that should have been done it was saying that we'll let you go, but only if you will tell us where Heidi is. Her family are still grieving. They've got no closure."

- Additional reporting: Hayden Donnell

PAROLE CONDITIONS
* Must not drink alcohol or take illicit drugs for the rest of his life.
* Electronic monitoring at a residential property for five years.
* Engage with support services.
* Have a psychological assessment.
* Complete any treatment/counselling and maintenance for the adult sex offenders' programme, as directed by parole officers.
* Take alcohol and drug counselling.
* Notify parole officer before starting, finishing or changing jobs.
* Attend a family hui.
* Attend a Parole Board meeting that will see how he is coping.
* Not contact the families and friends of his victims.