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Alan Lory
.
Arson of the New Empire Hotel in Frankton in 1995 resulting in six deaths
Bret Conrad Jones and five others
.
none known
Born 1955
At large
Sentenced to life imprisonment for the killings plus a 12 year concurrent term for arson in October 1996
Has attempted to appeal his sentence in July 2004
Paroled under "residential restrictions" November 2009
Background
NZ Herald story here
Waikato Times story here
From Brian Harmer's WYSIWYG News October 1996;
"In what may be the most severe punishment ever awarded for a
manslaughter verdict, Alan Wayne Lory, 41, was sentenced to
life imprisonment for each of the six counts of manslaughter,
and 12 years on the charge of arson which arose from his
lighting of the fire which destroyed the New Empire Hotel in
Frankton last year. The judge hoped that Lory would seek help
for his many problems, and condemned the exceptional
callousness of the act which killed the six victims."
"Witnesses at the trial have testified that Lory hated the hotel and everyone in it, after having been evicted."
From the Sunday News 20 December 2009
A mass killer described by his sentencing judge as a "walking time bomb" has been freed in time for Christmas despite a prison release report stating he was "at high risk of reoffending". Alan Wayne Lory was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 1996 after earlier being convicted of six manslaughter charges and arson following a blaze at Hamilton's New Empire Hotel in February the previous year.
Psychologists recently assessed Lory "as being at high risk of reoffending particularly because of his risk area of alcohol and perhaps relationship difficulties" but less than a month ago the Parole Board set him free. Lory – a life parolee who can be recalled to jail at any time – set the budget hotel alight after being thrown out. Keith Lazenby, 64, Terrence Holland, 74, William Ward, 70, Murray Jackson, 59, Kathleen Ellis, 34, all perished in the deadly inferno. The sixth victim, 18-year-old Bret Jones, died from head injuries after leaping from the third floor of the hotel.
Lazenby's step-mother Val Lazenby said she was angry Lory had been released so soon. "Regardless of the fact we lost Keith because of this man, it is not nice to know that this man is out there and could do it to somebody else," she said. "Who is going to stop him doing that? He is not a nice character, is he, when he drinks? "This is happening all the time. They are releasing people who offend again. I don't know what to do. "These people died before their time."
In sentencing Lory at the High Court at Auckland, justice Grant Hammond said the 54-year-old "could not have cared less about the persons inside the hotel" and was a "walking time bomb". The New Empire Hotel arson wasn't Lory's first arson. He was convicted of a "revenge" arson attack on a flatmate's unit in Rotorua in 1988. And five months after the Hamilton blaze, Lory crashed his car into the foyer of the Hamilton police station, causing $16,000 damage.
During his trial for the Hamilton killings, witness Glynis Hawkes spoke of Lory's cold-hearted confession. "He just sat back in his chair and just looked at me, then he turned around and started laughing. He thought it was [a] huge joke," she said. In sentencing Lory to life imprisonment on the manslaughter charges and 12 years for arson, Hammond said: "The degree of callousness on your part was exceptional. You literally could not have cared less about your fellow human beings. You lit the fire and you walked away."
Lory initially faced six charges of murder and one of arson following the fatal fire. But after deliberating for 15 hours a jury found him guilty of manslaughter and arson. The New Empire Hotel blaze was made worse because residents had deactivated smoke alarms to prevent them going off while they smoked. Smoke-stop doors had also been wedged open. Soon after sentencing, Karen Jones – Bret's mother – said of multiple killer Lory: "He has to face me and I want to look into his eyes and see if he has a soul. I don't want to say anything (to him). I just want him to see Bret's photo and see that this is one of the people he killed."
Neither Lory, nor members of his immediate family, could be reached for comment. Valerie Lazenby remembered her stepson Keith as a "lovely Christian guy". She said her own faith had helped her heal the "wounds" of his death but she still hadn't forgiven Lory. "Keith was in a unit somewhere and couldn't manage it. So he ended up in that hotel on the top floor on that dreadful night," she recalled. "Time heals wounds. I have a picture of Keith on the wall here and I see him now and again. I am a Christian as well I hope to see him in the resurrection.
"His faith was like that, so is mine." Before being released, Lory had been on work leave at an engineering company as part of the Self Care Unites programme. His release conditions require him to live near his employers, the name and location of whom are being kept secret. The Parole Board decision reads: "He (Lory) has committed himself to the AA programme to help support his alcohol-free life and in short he has done everything he can to reduce his risk.
There is an openness between him and his supporters which is impressive. "We have decided therefore that he, with the benefit of this release proposal, will not be an undue risk to the safety of the community and we propose releasing him on a partial residential restrictions basis." Lory will re-appear before the board for assessment in February.
