Australian baby killer Keli Lane to learn fate in ‘no body - no parole’ law test

Keli Lane has maintained she gave her baby Tegan to the infant’s father, after giving birth. The missing infant's body has never been found. Photo / Getty Images

Keli Lane’s bid for release will be a test of “no body, no parole” laws that came into effect in New South Wales in 2022, more than a decade after her conviction.

Lane, 48, was convicted in 2010 of killing her baby Tegan in one of Australia’s most notorious criminal cases, after a jury found her guilty of murdering her newborn daughter in September 1996.

The NSW Parole Authority will hear submissions from Lane’s legal representatives in a closed hearing on Friday.

Lane was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison but is eligible for parole from May 12.

Keli Lane was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison but is eligible for parole from May 12. Photo / Getty Images

Lane has maintained she gave Tegan to the infant’s father, a man named Andrew Norris or Morris, soon after giving birth at Sydney’s Auburn Hospital.

Extensive police investigations failed to locate Tegan or the man Lane named as her father, with whom the former champion water polo player said she had a brief relationship.

The body of the two-day-old baby has never been found.

Lane has served time in some of the state’s toughest prisons including Silverwater, Dillwynia and Clarence Correctional Centre.

Lane’s bid for release will be a test of “no body, no parole” laws that came into effect in NSW in October 2022, more than a decade after her conviction.

Under the laws, introduced in response to the murder of Sydney mother Lynette Dawson, the parole board is required to consider a report from the police commissioner about the offender’s co-operation in finding the location of a victim’s body.

The authority cannot grant parole unless it is satisfied an offender has provided satisfactory help.