A convicted killer who beat his wife to death and dumped her remains in the waters of the Gold Coast faces a new obstacle in his request for parole.
Clive Anthony Nicholson beat his wife to death with a hammer at their Southport home before throwing her body at Southport Seaway in 2003.
He was imprisoned for life in 2006.
Julie’s remains have never been found and Nicholson is considered a prisoner without a body, without parole under Queensland law.
This means that he can only be granted parole if the probation board is satisfied that he cooperated satisfactorily in locating the victim’s body.
Nicholson’s hearing at Brisbane Magistrates’ Court on Thursday was supposed to last two days, but was instead updated following disagreements over new information provided in 2019 about where he dumped his wife’s body.
Nicholson had previously claimed to have placed Julie’s body in “The Spit” – much of the Gold Coast waterways – in letters sent to police and others at a time when Nicholson was considering himself. commit suicide.
But in 2019 he changed his story and revealed to police that he actually buried his wife in a hole in Cedar Grove near Jimboomba.
Nicholson’s initial parole application last year was rejected, with the council finding he had not provided “satisfactory cooperation” to help find Julie’s body, but the Queensland Supreme Court then decided to cancel that decision by ordering another review by the commission.
In his published pleas, Judge Peter Davis said Nicholson’s motivation for lying about his wife’s burial in Cedar Grove was not taken into consideration.
Judge Davis said there was “no direct evidence to prove or disprove” any of the reports he had previously provided.
“The reasoning is supposedly similar, that if death were imminent, Mr. Nicholson would have no reason to lie because there would be no consequences for him to tell the truth,” he said.
“On the other hand, there appears to be no identified reason why Mr. Nicholson is now lying about the disposal of Mrs. Nicholson’s body in Cedar Grove.”
Tim Ryan, an attorney serving the probation council, told the court Thursday that Nicholson’s various accounts of the whereabouts of Julie’s remains were “highly relevant” to her credibility.
Nicholson, sporting long white hair and a brown jacket, sat silently on the Brisbane magistrates’ bench as he watched the proceedings.
“The Queensland Parole Board will meet to determine whether Mr. Nicholson has cooperated satisfactorily with the murder crime investigation to identify the victim’s whereabouts,” a spokesperson said. of the Queensland corrections.
“The council’s decision as to whether the prisoner cooperated satisfactorily will be released at a later time.”
The hearing will resume on Friday.
