Notorious Australian serial killer Paul Denyer, who confessed to murdering multiple women in the 1990s and allegedly identified as a woman named “Paula” while in prison, is eligible for parole as of Tuesday.
Denyer began serving 30 years of non-parole jail time in 1993 for stabbing and strangling three women in the early 90s, according to Perth Now. He later confessed to the three crimes, describing them in gruesome detail during a lengthy police interrogation, Reduxx reported April 11.
Denyer, nicknamed the “Frankston Serial Killer,” allegedly sent his brother David and other recipients letters while in jail, claiming he committed the crimes because he was angry he was born male, Reduxx reported. Paul allegedly threatened his brother’s wife and child in one letter, and accused David of sexually abusing him and causing him to kill his three victims, The Age reported in 2004, the year David said he received the purported letter. (RELATED: LGBTQ Group Study Finds That Kids Who ‘Come Out’ Younger Are At Greater Suicide Risk)
Denyer was accused of raping a fellow prisoner while in jail in April 2012, according to a report from Australia’s the Herald Sun. Investigators interviewed Denyer about the alleged crime, which ostensibly began as a massage, for four hours.
The family of Natalie Russell, one of Denyer’s victims, pleaded with officials in the past to keep the confessed killer behind bars, worried he may kill again, Perth Now reported in October 2022, ahead of Denyer’s parole hearing in April.
“I think the whole idea of him even being considered for parole is ridiculous,” Russell’s father said, according to the outlet. “He had a good trial and … had psychologists and psychiatrists and everybody agreed that he should never be allowed out into normal society.”
One of the most notorious serial killers in Australia, who killed women in the 1990s because “I hate them”, is officially eligible for parole.
In 2021, he began “identifying” as a woman named Paula. pic.twitter.com/Qi3YgHK6w2
— Sall Grover (@salltweets) April 11, 2023
Denyer allegedly asked for women’s clothes and cosmetics while incarcerated, refashioning his prison clothes to appear more feminine, Australian news outlet 9 Now reported, citing a former prison guard at Denyer’s jail whom the outlet could not identify for security purposes.
One of Denyer’s purported female penpals told the outlet she visited him in prison.
“He’s really intimidating, he’s a big man with big shoulders and big hands and with the makeup he was wearing he looked like a clown,” she said.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her own safety, claimed Denyer asked her to purchase women’s underwear for him, which police reportedly refused to allow into the prison.
“He alluded to the fact that he was using the ‘trans status’ as a way to stop any negative attention,” the woman said, according to 9 News. “He wanted to be Paula so he could be separate to Paul who killed those women. He did say to me ‘I had to kill three so I could get that serial killer label’ and that sent chills down my spine.”
Crime reporter John Silvester alleged in 2022 that Denyer no longer identified as the female “Paula,” Reduxx reported. If released on parole, Denyer would likely be placed under supervision for the remainder of his life, according to Perth Now.