Convicted double murderer Mark Lundy will be released next month after serving more than 23 years behind bars for the murders of his wife and daughter.
In 2001, the then 43-year-old was convicted of murdering his wife, 38-year-old Christine, and their daughter Amber, 7, on August 29 or 30, 2000.
The pair were found bludgeoned to death in the family home in Palmerston North. He was charged with their murders six months later.
Lundy, who jointly owned a kitchen sink business with his wife, was twice tried and convicted of their murders.
He was first found guilty at a trial in Palmerston North in 2002. After unsuccessfully taking his case to the Court of Appeal, his convictions were overturned by a Privy Council in Britain in 2013. Lundy spent two years on bail until he was convicted for a second time at a retrial in Wellington in 2015.
He was given a life sentence with a 20-year non-parole period.
Lundy, now 66, has always maintained his innocence.
“As you’re aware, I’ll go to (my) deathbed still saying that I did not kill my family,” he said at a 2023 Parole Board hearing.
Lundy’s parole was approved following a hearing at Tongariro Prison near Tūrangi today – his third appearance before the board.
Special conditions have been imposed, including exclusions zones; no access to social media; no media interviews; an electronically monitored curfew; and no contact with the family of the victims.
An exact date for Lundy’s release has been suppressed.
Lundy will next be seen by the Parole Board in October.