A woman convicted of killing her baby daughter in one of Australia’s most notorious criminal cases will learn whether she will be granted parole after more than 13 years behind bars.
Keli Lane, 48, was convicted in 2010 after a jury found her guilty of murdering her newborn daughter Tegan in September 1996.
Lane has maintained she gave Tegan to the infant’s father, a man named Andrew Norris or Morris, soon after giving birth at Sydney’s Auburn Hospital.
Extensive police investigations failed to locate Tegan or the man Lane named as her father, with whom the former champion water polo player said she had a brief relationship.
The body of the two-day-old baby has never been found.
The NSW Parole Authority will hear submissions from Lane’s legal representatives in a closed hearing on Friday.
Lane was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison but is eligible for parole from May 12.
Keli Lane was convicted in 2010. Source: AAP / Paul Miller
She has served time in some of the state’s toughest prisons including Silverwater, Dillwynia and Clarence Correctional Centre.
Lane’s bid for release will be a test of “no body, no parole” laws that came into effect in NSW in October 2022, more than a decade after her conviction.
Under the laws, introduced in response to the murder of Sydney mother Lynette Dawson, the parole board is required to consider a report from the police commissioner about the offender’s cooperation in finding the location of a victim’s body.
The authority cannot grant parole unless it is satisfied an offender has provided satisfactory help.
Source Agencies
