Wife sticks by re-jailed killer

Warwick Bennett is a threat to his second wife Deborah, the Parole Board says. Photo / Supplied

The wife of a former air force sergeant who murdered his first wife and buried her in a forest is standing by her husband.

Warwick Keith Bennett was recalled to prison in Christchurch because the Parole Board believed he "poses an undue risk of harm" to his new wife Deborah.

The Weekend Herald understands Deborah Bennett's family want her to leave her husband, who is eligible for parole again in September.

But she has visited him in Rolleston Prison, a minimum-security facility in Christchurch, most weekends since his arrest.

Warwick Bennett was convicted in November 1994 of the murder of his 24-year-old wife, Yvonne, who went missing from their home at the Hobsonville Air Base in April 1982.

Three months after the killing, Bennett returned to Woodhill State Forest at night to dig up the body and rebury it in a deeper grave.

The court heard he was a jealous and possessive man who murdered his wife because she threatened to leave him.

Bennett was paroled in 2004 and married Deborah Prescott, a Red Cross co-ordinator for Meals on Wheels.

Last month, he was recalled to prison by the Parole Board after his probation officer said he posed a risk to his second wife "as a result of relationship difficulties between them". The officer also said Bennett failed to disclose an allegation of assaulting his wife in April 2007.

The relationship difficulties stem from an incident at an Auckland bar in February. The couple were in Auckland, from Christchurch, with Deborah's sister and a close friend.

Bennett told the Parole Board that his wife, who was drunk, gave her cellphone number to a man in a bar.

When the group returned to their accommodation, Bennett slammed doors and verbally abused his wife.

The three women left the apartment and checked into a nearby hostel. Mrs Bennett flew back to Christchurch alone the next day.

"The issue, Mr Bennett confirmed to us today, was not completely resolved between them," the Parole Board ruling said. "We have some concern about the circumstances leading to [Deborah Bennett's] departure from the matrimonial home in early March 2011."

The Parole Board was also given a confidential report from a police officer in the Christchurch Family Safety Team.

The report was unsworn, and Warwick Bennett's lawyers warned of the "usual dangers of hearsay evidence and warn of the likelihood of exaggeration or embellishment in evidence of this kind".

The Parole Board decided the information should be considered.

"On our reading and consideration of the totality of the material now before us, we are satisfied that the grounds are established, namely that Mr Bennett does pose an undue risk to the safety of the community," it said in its decision.

Bennett will be considered again for parole in September.

In 1982, Bennett told police investigating the disappearance of his wife that she had left him.

He was the prime suspect but detectives could not find Yvonne Bennett's body.

In 1992, an associate of Bennett contacted police to say he had boasted that her body would never be found. Bennett was arrested and later led detectives to the grave.

He admitted manslaughter, claiming the death was accidental, but was found guilty of murder after a trial in the High Court at Auckland.

The jury heard Bennett had earlier accused his wife of having affairs.

The Crown said Bennett had a deliberate plan to elude police, feigning shock and making it appear Yvonne Bennett was at home on the night of the murder. He left a bogus note pleading with her to come back.