Mark Lundy’s lawyer asks for indication of electronic monitoring timeframe

Mark Lundy was freed from Tongariro Prison in May last year and the Parole Board says he has complied with all his release conditions. Photo / Mark Mitchell

By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ

Convicted murderer Mark Lundy is continuing to do well after his release from prison almost a year ago, the Parole Board says.

As a result, his lawyer has asked for an indication of when Lundy could be released from his electronic monitoring.

The then-66-year-old was freed from Tongariro Prison in May to a location that is suppressed after being granted parole.

Lundy has always maintained his innocence despite twice being found guilty of killing his wife Christine and 7-year-old daughter Amber in their Palmerston North home in August 2000.

That position was a stumbling block before the Parole Board until last year, when it decided he was ready for release.

He saw the board for a progress hearing last month and a report from that was released to RNZ on Friday.

“Since the last monitoring hearing that took place on October 25, 2025, Mr Lundy has continued to comply with all of his conditions,” the report said.

“He continued to enjoy stable accommodation. He does not seek any variations of the existing conditions today.”

However, his lawyer Ella Burton did ask whether the board would “define a timeframe within which Mr Lundy could look forward to a positive consideration of a discharge of the electronic monitoring of his whereabouts condition”.

The board decided this was premature because Lundy had been out of prison less than a year.

“The board is not in a position to indicate any finite term within which Mr Lundy could apply for a variation of the electronic monitoring of his whereabouts condition.”

Mark Lundy has been out of prison less than a year. Photo / George Heard

His parole conditions also include a ban on drinking alcohol or taking drugs; that he has to tell his probation officer if he has an intimate relationship; a ban from Hastings, Rangitīkei, Manawatū and Nelson; and a ban on holding a social media account or posting on social media sites.

He was previously banned from talking to the media, but that was lifted at a previous hearing.

His last progress hearing heard he was expanding his social contacts, and the nighttime curfew he was originally subjected to on release was dropped.

- RNZ