How to minimise 20 years of anguish

TWENTY years is a long time to live with questions.

When you are also grappling with grief and the pain of a loved one’s murder, those questions can be magnified all the more.

For Barwon Heads man Lyle Allan, today’s 20th anniversary of the death of his brother Keith also marks the decades of anxiety he has experienced through not knowing the location of his brother’s body.

While three men were convicted of Keith Allan’s murder in 2007, the solicitor’s body has never been recovered. Mr Allan cites this uncertainty and the inability to hold a funeral for his brother as contributing factors to the illness and post-traumatic stress he has experienced in the intervening years.

The Victorian Government blocked the proposed “no body, no parole” amendment to the Corrections Act in 2016, despite similar legislation being passed in other states. With parole dates looming for the convicted killers in the coming years, Mr Allan has said he would be willing to support the men’s release if they co-operated and revealed his brother’s final resting place.

It is an interesting perspective on a thorny corrections issue.