NEW South Wales Labor MP Peter Breen has penned a sickening tribute to the killers of Janine Balding in which he talks about his realisation one night "under the stars" that he loved two of them.
The controversial MP, who switched to Labor after being wooed by Premier Morris Iemma to help shore up its Upper House numbers, describes the vicious killers in a new book as having rosy cheeks, pleasant smiles or being hapless.
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He declares the oldest of the three killers - "Shorty" Jamieson - to be innocent of the murder. Mr Breen calls "blue-eyed" Jamieson by his nickname Jamo. He bought him a television for his cell.
"Jamieson is gazing out the high-barred window behind me, his eyes reflecting blue sky," Breen describes one jail meeting in his bizarre paperback, researched mainly in parliamentary time.
"I love Shorty Jamieson and I'm not afraid to say so."
The Iemma Government, already under fire for going soft on prisoners, will be further embarrassed by their star recruit lobbying for the release of three of the state's most notorious killers.
Jamieson, Matthew Elliott and a third man, B, were all jailed for life with their files marked "never to be released" for the 1988 abduction, rape and drowning of Ms Balding, 20.
Mr Breen, who swapped from independent to Labor after his arch enemy Bob Carr quit as premier, yesterday said Mr Iemma was "much more sensible" in reviewing criminal convictions.
He said Mr Carr had been "irrational" over the three killers.
The Carr Government passed laws cementing all "never to be released" prisoners in jail and closed down the controversial Innocence Panel after Mr Breen put up Jamieson's case for review.
Mr Breen also professes his love for the youngest of the killers, B, in his book, which he has self-published but which three mainstream publishers are said to be interested in.
"I love B and the statement causes me to blink at the stars," he writes in Life as a Sentence, which he claims is the "true story of the Janine Balding murder". Mr Breen, who considered entering the priesthood, believes B, 14 at the time of the murder, is totally rehabilitated after being baptised in the swimming pool at Minda Detention Centre.
He ignores a prison psychiatrist who describes B as a charming psychopath.
Of Elliott, Mr Breen refers to reports he is a "very impressive young man".
And he labels "hapless" a fourth man, W, convicted of raping Ms Balding and who has been convicted of two other abduction and rapes since his release from jail.
The book has outraged Ms Balding's family, the police and victims' groups.
"He had the hide to send me a copy of the book and I told him that I was highly annoyed and that I found it offensive that he would use Janine's name to sell his book," Bev Balding said.
"Poor Janine. I wish he would leave us alone."
Homicide Victims Support Group executive director Martha Jabour said: "Mr Breen is discounting the system we have in this country of policing and the judiciary and that is inconsistent with him being an MP.
"How can anyone say that they love a murderer when they are not a blood relative and have only met them a few times. It is bizarre."
One of the investigating officers, Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, wrote to the Government answering all Mr Breen's claims and reinforcing the evidence against Jamieson.
In his book Mr Breen also declares Gary Murphy, one of the five men who killed Anita Cobby, innocent and says that he wished another notorious murderer, Kevin Crump, good luck in his appeal to get out of jail.
'Killer loving' MP steps aside
NEW South Wales Labor MP Peter Breen has quit the Labor Party after an uproar over comments he made about the killers of a young woman that he loved two of them.
Premier Mossis Iemma said he had persuaded Mr Breen to quit the ALP.
"He's resigning from the Labor Party today," Mr Iemma said on Macquarie radio.
He called Mr Breen's comments offensive. "They're an insult to the memory of Janine Balding and her family," he said.
Mr Breen was expected to hold a press conference shortly.
Stephen Wayne "Shorty" Jamieson, Matthew Elliott and a man who can only be identified as B are serving life sentences for the 1988 rape and drowning murder of Janine Balding, 20, in Sydney.
Mr Breen, who switched to Labor after being wooed by Premier Morris Iemma to help shore up its Upper House numbers, describes the vicious killers in his book as having rosy cheeks, pleasant smiles or being hapless.
He declares the oldest of the three killers - Jamieson - to be innocent of the murder. Mr Breen calls "blue-eyed" Jamieson by his nickname Jamo. He bought him a television for his cell.
"Jamieson is gazing out the high-barred window behind me, his eyes reflecting blue sky," Breen describes one jail meeting in his bizarre paperback, researched mainly in parliamentary time.
"I love Shorty Jamieson and I'm not afraid to say so."
Mr Breen, who swapped from independent to Labor after his arch-enemy Bob Carr quit as premier, yesterday said Mr Iemma was "much more sensible" in reviewing criminal convictions.
He said Mr Carr had been "irrational" over the three killers.
The Carr Government passed laws cementing all "never to be released" prisoners in jail and closed down the controversial Innocence Panel after Mr Breen put up Jamieson's case for review.
Mr Breen also professes his love for the youngest of the killers, B, in his book, which he has self-published but which three mainstream publishers are said to be interested in.
"I love B and the statement causes me to blink at the stars," he writes in Life as a Sentence, which he claims is the "true story of the Janine Balding murder". Mr Breen, who considered entering the priesthood, believes B, 14 at the time of the murder, is totally rehabilitated after being baptised in the swimming pool at Minda Detention Centre.
He ignores a prison psychiatrist who describes B as a charming psychopath.
Of Elliott, Mr Breen refers to reports he is a "very impressive young man".
And he labels "hapless" a fourth man, W, convicted of raping Ms Balding and who has been convicted of two other abduction and rapes since his release from jail.
The book outraged Ms Balding's family, the police and victims' groups.
"He had the hide to send me a copy of the book and I told him that I was highly annoyed and that I found it offensive that he would use Janine's name to sell his book," Bev Balding said.
"Poor Janine. I wish he would leave us alone."
Homicide Victims Support Group executive director Martha Jabour said: "Mr Breen is discounting the system we have in this country of policing and the judiciary and that is inconsistent with him being an MP.
"How can anyone say that they love a murderer when they are not a blood relative and have only met them a few times. It is bizarre."
One of the investigating officers, Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, wrote to the Government answering all Mr Breen's claims and reinforcing the evidence against Jamieson.
In his book Mr Breen also declares Gary Murphy, one of the five men who killed Anita Cobby, innocent and says that he wished another notorious murderer, Kevin Crump, good luck in his appeal to get out of jail.
- AAP, The Daily Telegraph
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