Board rejects killer’s parole

ONE of Tasmania’s most depraved “psychopathic” killers has learned the result of his latest bid for freedom.

Jamie John Curtis, 63, was denied parole and will not be able to apply for it again for at least another six months, in a decision handed down by Tasmania’s Parole Board yesterday.

In 1986, Jamie John Curtis abducted three people, including Dean Allan Allie, who he murdered.

Allie’s fiancee Alicia* was also abducted at knifepoint and gang-raped by Curtis and his 16-year-old accomplice.

Alicia — now aged 51 — has welcomed the decision and says she hopes that Curtis will not reapply for parole.

“For now he is where he should be, behind bars, and will not be a threat to the public,” Alicia told the Mercury.

“I feel so relieved. The parole board have made absolutely the right decision — the only decision that they could have made, in my view — and I am pleased that it went that way.”

Alicia, who spoke out about her fears earlier this week, says yesterday’s decision is in line with community attitudes and reflects the public sentiment.

“I don’t think that I have read one comment from any member of the public saying he should be released. It has been pretty much unanimous that he shouldn’t even be considered for parole,” she said.

However, it is understood that Curtis will be eligible to apply for parole again in April next year.

“Unless Curtis is branded ‘never to be released’, I am going to have to have this stress every six months and it is going to go on and on,” Alicia said. “I just want my life back. “No other person that I know has to deal with this over and over, it’s just so stressful and it just wears you down.”

Alicia is now calling for Curtis to be classified as a “dangerous criminal” which would enable authorities to permanently detain him for the rest of his life sentence.

To date only nine offenders have ever been classified as a dangerous criminal in Tasmania.

The most recent occasion was in 2004. *Victim gag laws in Tasmania prevent the Mercury from publishing the real name of “Alicia” in this story.