Double axe murderer denied bid to overturn parole ban

Rex Martinich |

A double murderer who attacked a couple with an axe in 2002 continues to be blocked from parole.
A double murderer who attacked a couple with an axe in 2002 continues to be blocked from parole.

A double murderer who bludgeoned a couple with an axe while they slept will remain banned from applying for parole after his appeal was dismissed.

Peter William Neyens changed his plea to guilty four days into his trial at Brisbane Supreme Court in March 2002.

He was jailed for life for the murder of Timothy Caddy, 40, and Bobbie-Lee Sheehy, 29.

Justice John Bond on Tuesday denied Neyens’ appeal against a ban on him applying for parole.

Neyens was denied parole in 2019 and was declared a restricted prisoner, which blocked him from applying for parole again until September 2026.

Mr Caddy met Neyens in prison and after release Neyens invited him and his girlfriend Ms Sheehy to live with him at Coopers Plains, south of Brisbane.

Neyens, then aged 37, murdered the couple soon after they moved in and their bodies were found in bushland at Mount Nebo, west of Brisbane, on June 30, 1999.

He later told detectives he hit Mr Caddy on the head as he slept in bed, and then struck Ms Sheehy with the axe before strangling her with the electrical cord from a kettle.

At Neyens’ sentencing, Justice Brian Ambrose said he had killed a sleeping man then chased down and killed a woman who was trying to save her own life.

“The crime was exceptionally violent and brutal … you then set about to clean up the premises over the next few days,” Justice Ambrose said.

Parole Board president Michael Byrne in 2023 declared Neyens a restricted prisoner due to the “atrociousness” of his crimes against two defenceless and startled people.

Justice Bond found Chief Justice Helen Bowskill’s October 2023 decision to deny Neyens’ judicial review of the restricted prisoner declaration was not made in error.

He upheld that Mr Byrne, in making the restricted prisoner declaration, did not have to consider whether parole conditions could mitigate the risk of releasing Neyens on parole.

Justice Bowskill had found a low-risk prisoner could still be blocked from parole if it was warranted by the nature of the offences and the likely effect release would have on the victims’ family.

AAP