12.30pm
Convicted Christchurch murderer Gay Oakes is to be released from jail next week, says the victim's sister.
English-born Oakes, 41, was found guilty in 1994 of poisoning and suffocating her de facto husband Doug Gardner before burying him in the family's back yard.
Mr Gardner died on or about January 29, 1993,
and his body remained buried in the garden for 14 months.
Oakes received a life sentence, with a minimum non-parole term of 10 years, but last year the parole board reduced her non-parole period to eight years in light of her contribution to prison life, her claim the murder was a reaction to Mr Gardner's threats to her and her children, and the abuse she suffered in the relationship.
The mother-of-six maintained she was the victim of battered women's syndrome and had been known to flee to women's refuges to escape frequent mental and physical abuse.
Gardner's sister Wendy Johnston told National Radio today the family was "really, really hurt and angry" on hearing this morning that the parole board had decided to release Oakes on Monday.
The parole board does not publicly release information about the release of prisoners.
"Gay Oakes was sentenced to life imprisonment which was 10 years and she should have done at least 10 years," Ms Johnston said.
"Unfortunately they (Parole Board) opted to go against the victims once more and to go for the prisoner," she told Newstalk ZB radio.
The decision follows parole board hearings last month at which both Mr Gardner's family and representatives of Oakes made submissions in separate sessions.
In its submission, the family said it wanted Oakes to serve a full 10-year term and then be deported.
Oakes arrived in New Zealand in 1985, with three children, following Mr Gardner whom she had met in Australia.
Five of Oakes' six children are still believed to be living in Christchurch. Her eldest daughter, 24, is in Australia.
The couple's youngest child was just two when Oakes was convicted.
While in prison, Oakes, wrote a book called Decline into Darkness. It outlined her life with Mr Gardner.
- NZPA
