Steve Braunias: The Secret Diary of ... Mark Lundy’s Parole Board hearing

Mark Lundy in the dock in March 2015, during his retrial for the 2000 murder of his wife and daughter. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION

Good morning Mr Lundy.

Good morning.

Please sit down.

There’s no chair.

Would you please sit down?

But there’s no chair.

Mr Lundy, we’ve repeatedly asked you to sit down and make yourself comfortable, and yet you insist on standing, perhaps as a matter of principle, or pride, either way it hardly matters to the board, because we’ve asked you to perform a simple task and yet you refuse.

I get that the optics are bad.

The optics are very bad indeed, Mr Lundy. How do you expect to be released into the general population if that’s your attitude?

There might be chairs in the general population.

It’s pointless to speculate. For the last time, please sit down.

Would it be all right if I sat on the floor?

No. Mr Lundy, do you have a safety plan that takes into consideration the lessons you have learned for killing your wife and child?

I did not kill them.

You were found guilty. Twice, in the course of two trials. Of course you killed them. The police investigation was exemplary.

In the first trial, the police claimed I drove from Petone to Palmerston North at impossible speeds to kill them. They produced a witness who claimed they saw me near the scene of the crime disguised as a woman and wearing a dress. In the retrial, they produced a jailhouse snitch who was clearly a liar. In both trials they produced a scientist from an obscure laboratory in Texas who -

The prosecution was first-rate.

The prosecutor told the jury, “A man should not have his wife’s brain on his shirt.”

Mark Lundy was convicted of the murders of his wife Christine and their daughter Amber.

A memorable line, wouldn’t you agree, Mr Lundy?

I did not have my wife’s brain on my shirt. I did not kill my wife and child.

We are waiting for you to express remorse.

I cannot feel remorse for something I have not done.

We are waiting for you to tell the board why it is you killed them, so that the board, who approach your case with due empathy and sensitivity, can gain some understanding into the sick and twisted way your mind works.

I did not kill my wife and child.

You repeatedly fail to provide the board with an analysis about what had happened.

I get that the optics are bad.

The optics are very bad indeed, Mr Lundy. Could you at least produce a name and contact details of the person you think did kill your wife and child?

No.

No? After all these years, you don’t know? Don’t have the foggiest? Don’t have any earthly idea?

There are a number of possible scenarios. There are suggestions of financial issues of other people. There are suggestions of drug involvement of other people. But there’s no physical evidence to support any of this.

That’s unfortunate.

Yes, I’ve found it pretty inconvenient.

Well, Mr Lundy, as it stands, just as you continue to stand, things are at a bit of an impasse. But there’s a way forward.

Really?

Really. You have been in jail for 21 years, and maintained a minimum security status. You have completed a six-month drug treatment programme. You have a low risk of committing interpersonal violence. You have no previous convictions, you have learned a skill that might offer you employment, and you have the support of family and friends.

Would you agree that the optics are good?

Sure, but what’s the reality? We can discuss that further if you’d please just sit down.