01.44 am, Thursday May 24 2012

Man who murdered pregnant wife out early

18:22 AEDT Thu Jan 22 2009
By Katelyn John and Nick Ralston
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The parents of a heavily pregnant woman shot dead by her husband who lay in wait for her at their home say they've been robbed of justice after he was granted parole six years early.

And they're furious that one of the reasons for the killer's early parole is that the murder was his first offence.

Brian Corrigan was sentenced to a maximum of 22 years in prison after shooting his wife Kim twice in the head at their home on the NSW south coast in 1992, killing her and their unborn baby girl.

Corrigan, who was 34 at the time, had waited inside their darkened house at Kiama before ambushing the 27-year-old, who was seven months pregnant.

He initially claimed an intruder had committed the murder but later blamed voices in his head, a claim rejected by the trial judge.

Having served less than 16 years of his sentence, the NSW State Parole Authority last month issued an "intention to grant parole" to Corrigan, saying he had a blemish-free record in jail.

Appearing by audio-visual link on Thursday, Corrigan was granted conditional parole. He will be released by February 5.

Kim Corrigan's mother Noeline Thistle said Corrigan did not deserve early release given his heinous crime, and had never explained why he committed the murder.

"I don't think he should ever be allowed back on the streets," she told AAP.

"There is no remorse, even today there is still no reason why.

"Who's to say he won't snap again ... there was no temper, there was no drunkenness, it was planned, it was premeditated.

"His life now starts again. He'll be a free person, do what he wants ... we haven't got our daughter to live her life."

Ms Thistle said it was hard to comprehend that one of the reasons for his release was because the murder was his first offence.

"It was murder, it wasn't stealing a car. It was his first offence but it was a major one at that," she said.

Outside the parole hearing, Kim's father, Jim Taber, said Corrigan was "ego driven" and would have felt badly towards his daughter because she had "all the limelight".

As well as standard parole conditions - such as not reoffending and not leaving the state or country without permission - Corrigan is barred from visiting his former wife's family or neighbourhood.

"The offender must not contact, communicate with, stalk, harass or intimidate specified person, which is Noeline Thistle and family," a State Parole Authority spokesman told AAP.

"The offender must not frequent or visit specified districts, which is Bowral, Terrigal and Kiama."

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Greg Smith said Corrigan had a long record of attempting to con police, the court, the community and authorities.

"With a conman like Corrigan, the community are left asking whether he has really been rehabilitated or whether it is just another charade," Mr Smith said.

He said community protection was the number one issue for the justice system and the early release of Corrigan raised doubts whether that priority had been realised in this matter.

Victims of crime advocate Howard Brown said the parole decision was a huge shock.

"Most people would readily accept that a person of that age, when they commit such a heinous incident, have got very poor prospects for rehabilitation," he told Macquarie Radio.

"Why he was made available for release to parole at his earliest opportunity has me very surprised."

 

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