KEVIN Naismith, who brutally murdered two men at Charlestown and then dumped and burnt their bodies at the Stockton sand dunes, could be released on parole within the next month.
Naismith, now 54, has spent the last 25 years behind bars after he was convicted of murdering his best mate Danny Wasley and Mark Banks at Charlestown on August 16, 1999.
The pair were killed - Wasley beaten with a baseball bat and Banks shot - after Naismith believed he had been "ripped off" over a $13,000 drug deal.
After both men had been killed, Naismith said "good, they are both gone" before he organised for their cars to be dumped at Warners Bay and wrapped their bodies in tarpaulins.
Later that evening he hired a trailer and drove both bodies to the sand dunes at Stockton where they were buried and, over the next two nights, burnt.
"Two persons are dead, one of them supposed to be the prisoner's best friend, and he has shown no remorse or even regret for their deaths," sentencing judge Justice John Dunford said in 2000.
"At the time, Wasley's pleas for mercy were ignored and Banks was given no chance."
Naismith was found guilty of two counts of murder and later jailed for a maximum of 33 years, with a non-parole period of 25 years, making him eligible for parole on August 24, 2024.
With his parole date approaching, the State Parole Authority will on Friday conduct a public review hearing, during which the state and the families of the victims will make submissions.
"The authority formed an intention to grant parole at a previous meeting, based on the expert advice and recommendations of the Serious Offenders Review Council and Community Corrections, both of which support release to parole, subject to strict conditions and ongoing supervision," a statement from the State Parole Authority said.
Naismith could be granted parole as early as Friday after the public hearing, but, if so, he will not be released immediately.
The parole authority direct a window of time, usually two weeks from the hearing date, for an offender to be released, but Naismith cannot be released until at least August 24.
