Murderer due for parole in 2010

Hancuffed, Robin Reid is led from Murwillumbah Police Station along a lane to the courthouse by Sgt. Kevin Welsch and Det. Sgt. Bob Jackson.

Tweed Daily News

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Murder at Kingscliff in 1982

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ONE of the men behind a gruesome 27-year-old murder at south Kingscliff will be up for parole next year.

Robin Reid, 61, serving a life sentence for the sexual assault, torture and murder of 13-year-old Brisbane schoolboy Peter Aston in 1982, will face the parole board on March 5, 2010, according to New South Wales Corrective Services.

But it is unlikely Reid, who is currently incarcerated in maximum security at Goulburn Correctional Centre near Sydney, will be released, according to true crime author and radio host Paul B. Kidd.

“I’m going to visit him and tell him to his face that I’m going to keep him there,” Mr Kidd said. “I will endeavour to keep him in jail the rest of his life.”

Mr Kidd researched and wrote the story of the Kingscliff crime, which was documented in his 2002 book Shallow Graves.

“The crime he (Reid) committed is as bad if not worse than some of the others I’ve covered,” Mr Kidd said.

Mr Kidd said he would petition the parole board and discuss the story on his weekend morning talkback radio station to ensure Reid stays behind bars.

“I’m doing something about it to keep him in prison the rest of his life,” he said.

See the stories in Tweed Daily News at the time:

Tweed Daily News front page Thursday, May 6, 1982

Tweed Daily News front page Thursday, August 5, 1982

Tweed Daily news Thursday, August 12, 1982

Reid, along with accomplice and fellow soldier Paul Luckman, were found guilty with the murder of Aston.

On May 4, 1982, they abducted Aston and his friend, Terry Ryan, 12, on the outskirts of Brisbane and drove them at gun and knifepoint over the state border.

Reid and Luckman were aged 34 and 17 respectively at the time.

They sexually assaulted and tortured the young boy for an hour until burying him alive near Kingscliff beach.

Ryan was forced to participate.

The committal hearings were held at Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah courts in August that year before they were committed for trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Grafton.

The case was eventually transferred to the Sydney Supreme Court where both men were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

In 1999 Luckman was freed and had a sex-change operation at the expense of the government.

Reid was first eligible for parole in 2006.

His most recent attempt was on August 15, 2008.

Both were unsuccessful.

The murder was the focus of an episode of Foxtel program Crime Investigation Australia on Thursday night.

The documentary featured a re-enactment of the event and interviews with Ryan, his brother Shane Ryan and the detectives involved in the case.

Retired detective inspector Bob Jackson, who was the arresting officer in the case, was also interviewed for the show.

“It was one of the most-horrific crimes I saw,” Mr Jackson said.

He said it was unfair that Luckman had already been released from prison.

“They were as mad as each other,” he said.

“Reid should be considered for parole, but they have to give weight to what happened to the young boy.”

Mr Jackson was the first detective sergeant appointed to Tweed Heads Police Station.

See the stories in Tweed Daily News at the time:

Tweed Daily News front page Thursday, May 6, 1982

Tweed Daily News front page Thursday, August 5, 1982

Tweed Daily news Thursday, August 12, 1982