LET HIM ROT
Julie’s killer to serve full term if he keeps body secret
WIFE killer Michael Hutchinson could serve his full prison sentence after the “No Body, No Parole” legislation passed in State Parliament yesterday.
Hutchinson, 49, ( above) was found guilty of the manslaughter of his wife Julie Hutchinson ( left) and was sentenced to 15 ½ years jail in March. He has not revealed where he dumped her body. The new legislation could see Hutchinson kept behind bars until he is 62 years old, unless he satisfies the Parole Board that he co- operated with police to reveal the location of Julie’s body.
The new law was little comfort for Julie’s relatives yesterday, with her sister Christine Teitzel saying there would always be a hole in their family.
“He still gets out of prison when he’s 62 years old, for me, he needs to be in there for life,” she said.
THEY will never forgive and they will never forget, but the family of Julie Hutchinson could gain closure if her killer Michael Geoffrey Hutchinson, 49, reveals where he dumped his wife’s body.
And Hutchinson, who was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 ½ years in prison in March, could have extra incentive to co- operate with police after the State Government passed their “No Body, No Parole” legislation yesterday.
The new legislation could force Hutchinson to serve the full sentence, locked behind bars until he is 62 years old, unless he satisfies the Parole Board that he co- oper- ated with police to identify the location, or the last known location and place of a body.
Julie’s sister Christine Teitzel said it would never be over, no closure, there would always be a hole in their family.
“We want to give her a proper burial, have somewhere to visit. At the moment there’s nowhere,” Mrs Teitzel said.
“I don’t think it will ever be over for us, I don’t think we will ever know what really happened to her … even if we find her remains that’s not the end, she’s still not here.
“He still gets out of prison when he’s 62 years old. For me, he needs to be in there for life.”
Larry Beraldo, Julie’s brother, said Hutchinson had to know where he dumped his sister’s body and that it would be something he would always carry with him. “For someone to just make up a story and that’s it … we don’t believe him. I don’t believe anything he’s said, the extent he went to, he would know exactly where she is,” Mr Beraldo said.
“As soon as I see that style of car, the Mazda 6, or if anyone says anything about Queensland Nickel, that’s a trigger point, or if we get together as a family. “It’s been two years now.” Mrs Teitzel said it would be bittersweet if Hutchinson did help locate Julie’s body.
“Ultimately, we want to find her so that we can get … some respect for her.
“She’s out there. He’s treated her like a dead animal on the road, no respect, no remorse, nothing.”
During sentencing, Justice David North was scathing of Hutchinson’s lack of co- operation with police and compassion for Julie’s family.
“Your lies and your continued lie in not revealing where your late wife’s body could be found has deprived your children, Julie’s family, your friends, members of your family, of knowing how she died,” he said during sentencing in March.
“You deprived all of those persons of a chance to say farewell at a funeral. You thus reveal yourself as a deceitful man … preferring your own smug silence to the sorrow … caused by your silence.”
Attorney- General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath said the retrospective laws would apply to people convicted of murder, manslaughter, accessory after the fact to murder and conspiring to murder.