Ewen Macdonald has been denied early release at his first Parole Board meeting.
The board says Macdonald still poses an undue risk to the community and has “much to do” before he’s ready for release.
Macdonald will be required to see a psychologist for counselling and the board wants to see a forensic psychiatric report before they see him again.
The former Feilding farmer - acquitted of murdering his brother-in-law Scott Guy - had hoped for a pre-Christmas release from his cell at Manawatu Prison.
But the Board says he will now have to wait until November or December 2013 for his next attempt at parole.
Macdonald was arrested in April last year for the murder of Mr Guy but was found not guilty at his trial in Wellington six months ago.
It was alleged he hid in darkness at the end of Mr Guy’s driveway and shot him twice in the throat because he didn’t like the direction the farm – which they both managed – was taking.
- READ MORE: The Scott Guy timeline
After the trial, suppression lifted on six other charges Macdonald had pleaded guilty to, including vandalism, arson and killing animals.
He was sentenced to five years in jail for those crimes at the High Court in Palmerston North in September.
Macdonald had set fire an old farmstead belonging to Mr Guy in 2008 and vandalised Mr Guy’s new home after it had just been completed in 2009.
He also poached stags on a nearby farm and when he was caught, sought revenge by killing 19 calves with a hammer, destroying 16,000 litres of milk and burning down an historic duck shooters' hut.
- VIDEO: Full interview with the target of Macdonald’s poaching and revenge
- VIDEO: Ewen Macdonald’s police interviews Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
Mr Guy's widow Kylee was the only listed victim of Macdonald’s and did not attend today’s hearing. She says she will not be making any comment regarding the decision.
She never returned to her Feilding home after her husband was killed and now lives in Hawke’s Bay where she is working with private investigators, looking into the murder.
- READ MORE: Fresh inquiry into Scott Guy murder
Anna Guy, Macdonald’s ex-wife and the sister of Mr Guy, has tried to put the last few years behind her by beginning a new career in the media.
Ms Guy earlier told 60 Minutes she felt her marriage to Macdonald had been full of secrets and lies.
3 News
source: newshub archive
