Jule Patrick Burns, now 47, continues to deny murdering Auckland’s ex-wife Susan ‘Suzie’ Sutherland more than 17 years after her brutal murder.
Burns was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years in what was, at the time, one of the longest sentences in New Zealand.
The South African-born immigrant picked up Sutherland, 36, for sex in Christchurch’s Manchester St red-light district in April 2005, took her to an empty section of the city center in the dark and strangled her in a attack described by one expert as one of the most violent he had ever seen.
But in a new decision obtained by the New Zealand Herald, it is revealed that Burns will be released on March 20 next year.
However, his release comes with special conditions that he will only be taken into the custody of the New Zealand immigration authorities or the police before being deported directly to South Africa.
You will never be able to return to New Zealand.
“[Burns] he has modest knowledge of the small town he wants to be released to when he returns to South Africa,” reads the Parole Board decision delivered to the Herald.
He has a number of friends and family in the area “who will support him with reintegration,” the board said after a December 5 hearing at Whanganui prison. Burns also has a work plan, making furniture.
“However, as far as we can determine, his family believes that he is innocent and therefore their ability to oversee risk is limited, but we are satisfied that they would provide him with good chances of reintegration. We have therefore decided that it’s gone.” undue risk and may be released,” the decision reads.
Burns has filed a series of unsuccessful challenges to his conviction.
When last seen by the Parole Board in May of this year, they noted that Burns has, and still does, deny the crime.
At the latest hearing, the board asked him to develop a security plan for his proposed release, which he provided earlier this month.
“We believe that more work could be done on his safety plan before his final release, including acknowledging an unhealthy lifestyle, his regular use of sex workers while in a relationship and his emotional regulation and the fact that he had evidence that he could react quickly without thinking and therefore without regulating his emotions,” the decision reads.
And while Burns had originally had a series of aggressive incidents behind bars, his behavior over the years has “significantly improved,” the board says, and he held a series of prison jobs “which he has done to a high standard.” .
“Indeed, the psychologist noted an unusual level of support from the prison administration for his multiple roles,” the board says.
When Burns was sentenced in Christchurch High Court in April 2006, Judge John Hansen was convinced that Sutherland’s murder justified the extended minimum period without parole, which can be imposed for murder involving a high degree of brutality, cruelty , cruelty or depravity, or where the victim is considered vulnerable.
Evidence from people who heard the attack from their beds was “graphic as to Ms Sutherland’s final moments”, while Crown prosecutor Phil Shamy said he was apt to describe Burns as a ” cold-blooded murderer”.
“This woman was short in stature and she didn’t stand a chance against this man who was standing over her. She was particularly vulnerable, as all street-working prostitutes are, to these types of offenses,” Shamy said.
-By Kurt Bayer
