Ian Richard Conole: Murderer released on parole after serving 29 years for murder of ex-wife Dorothy Conole

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Ian Richard Conole: ********* released on parole after serving 29 years for ******* of ex-wife Dorothy Conole

A cold-blooded ******* who forced his ex-wife to write a farewell letter to her own children before murdering her and attempting to ***** himself has been released from prison after almost three decades behind bars.

But even now, 29 years later, a risk assessment by the senior clinical psychologist warned that the *********, Ian Richard Conole, has “a lack of insight into the violent nature of his offence”.

Conole was serving a life sentence for the wilful ******* of his former partner Dorothy Conole in her home in 1995.

Camera IconMurdered girl Dorothy Conole, right, at her last visit to Perth in February 1995. Credit: Unknown/Supplied

He bound her wrists and ankles and stood over her as he waited for her to pen a final goodbye to her two kids.

When the Nedlands woman managed to finish putting down her last thoughts to the children she would leave behind, Conole suffocated her to ****** inside her home on December 4.

In her remarkably peaceful note, she revealed that it all seemed “like a dream” and urged her children not to “hate” before hurriedly signing off.

“I am sitting here writing this letter at your father’s insistence. It’s not one I want to write, nor would I want your dad to write. I have just been told that I am going to be *******, and then your dad will take his own life. I’m finding the whole thing like a dream,” she wrote.

“I don’t want to ****, and funnily enough, I don’t hate your dad even now. I am being rushed. All I can say is I feel so much for all of us.

“Please stand by each other and give each other strength — be there for each other and do not blame anything or anyone, for blame is hate. I really don’t hate.

“I’m having to go now. Goodbye. I love you. Mum ****.”

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconThe letter Dorothy Conole wrote to her children at the direction of her ex-husband Ian Richard Conole before he ******* her. Supplied Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Conole had gained access to his ex-wife’s Darwin apartment about 1am and subjected her to mental and emotional ******** in the hour that led up to her ******.

After he ******* the 45-year-old, he added at the bottom of the letter: “Your mother ***** bravely. I hope there is a **** for her . . .”

He also callously wrote the word “liar” in lipstick on her forehead.

He then sat inside her home and wrote numerous letters to Dorothy’s family and friends before walking to the post office and sending them.

On return, he purchased anaesthetic ointment, which he rubbed on his arms before slashing them in an attempt to ***** himself.

However, the pain became too much, and he called triple-0.

Conole, aged 48 at the time, was handed a life sentence in 1996 with a minimum non-parole ******* of 20 years.

In sentencing, Justice Sir William Kearney said that although the WA couple were divorced, he somehow gained a key to her apartment, which allowed him to break in and read her diaries.

Justice Kearney said Conole made plans to ***** Dorothy after reading her memoirs, which had reportedly contained accounts of relationships with other men.

“I think he committed this ******* driven by one of the oldest passions of man: If I can’t have you, no one will,” Justice Kearney said.

After serving 29 years, Conole, now in his late 70s, was released on supervised parole for three years on May 16 after completing a resocialisation program and undergoing assessment by a clinical psychologist.

In a report prepared by the senior clinical psychologist — which included a *********-risk scale assessment — Conole was described as having “a lack of insight into the violent nature of his offence” and “poor emotional awareness”.

“Mr Conole has poor emotional awareness and demonstrates deficits in his ability to regulate his emotions, which often contributes to a propensity towards aggressive interpersonal interactions,” the psychologist wrote.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconFrank Lawson, aged 80, of Dianella, holds a photograph of him with his daughter Dorothy Conole on her wedding day in January 1971. Dorothy was murdered in Darwin seven years ago by Ian Conole, her husband of 25 years. Credit: Nic Ellis/WA News

The senior clinical and forensic psychologist also highlighted Mr Conole’s lack of motivation to obtain treatment and his generally abrasive interpersonal style.

Other factors identified by the ********* risk scale assessment included an aggressive personality style, a history of physical ********, a history of ******* jealousy, stalking behaviour and ******* use.

Despite his risk factors, Conole has been deemed as low risk for perpetrating intimate partner ********* as well as violent reoffending in the community due to his advanced age and poor physical health.

His “well-considered” parole plan also included residing with his sister and engaging with suitable professional support.

Conole was placed on several conditions, including not consuming alcohol, attending counselling sessions, disclosing any new relationships to his community corrections officer and remaining in WA.

In 2000, Ms Conole’s mother, Melvie Lawson, pleaded for her ex son-in-law to serve his jail sentence in the Northern Territory to help preserve fond WA memories of Dorothy.

Dororthy’s sister, Jill Ferguson, had also called for Conole to remain in a Northern Territory prison over concerns his sentence could be lightened.

“Conole took a bag to my sister’s apartment — it contained an axe handle, some tape, a ****** and some local anaesthetic cream which he thought might make his ******** attempt less painful — the cream was for haemorrhoids,” Ms Ferguson wrote. “Conole subjected my sister to mental and emotional ******** for quite some time before he ******* her.

“I cannot impress on you enough that Conole’s family are a means to an end — because — a transfer to WA will likely be a transfer to a lighter/reduced sentence.”

Mrs Lawson’s dying pleas helped block his request to transfer his 25-year ******* sentence to a WA jail.

However, in 2006, Conole was transferred to a WA prison from Darwin.

The feeling for the family was most aptly summed up in a victim impact statement written by Mrs Lawson.

“The hurt goes on when I am having an asthma *******. I wonder if this was as Dorothy felt as she was trying to gasp for breath,” Mrs Lawson wrote.

Dorothy was born in Nedlands in 1950. Her father, Frank Lawson, described her as an “outgoing person” who loved life.

“Dorothy was very down to earth and would never harm anybody. If she could help someone out, she would,” he wrote.

Lifeline: 13 11 14

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Ian #Richard #Conole #********* #released #parole #serving #years #******* #exwife #Dorothy #Conole

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up