In 1993, the Frankston killer murdered 3 women and said he was 'proud'. He is now eligible for parole.

Paul Denyer, also known as the Frankston killer, was a meticulous, brutal, and unremorseful killer. He was involved in horrible animal cruelty growing up and by his teens, he wanted to kill and began stalking women.

Then in 1993, he murdered three women — Natalie Russell, Elizabeth Stevens and Deborah Fream. He also remains the key suspect in murder of Sarah MacDiarmid in 1990.

After being caught by investigators and later admitting to the three murders, Denyer was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He later appealed and his sentence was reduced to a non-parole period of 30 years, meaning he is eligible for release from this year.

That he could now be released on parole deeply concerns all involved with the case. 

Watch: Victim's families brace for triple murderer's release. Post continues below.

Australian crime reporter John Silvester has reported on hundreds of cases for over three decades on the job. But it's the 1993 case of one of Australia's most infamous serial killers that has stuck with him ever since.

"Denyer is so enthusiastic in explaining the most dreadful of details. He was proud of what he did. He hated women," Silvester said on Mamamia's The Quicky. 

Elizabeth Stevens, 18, was walking home from a bus stop when Denyer jumped towards her. It was dark and raining heavily, with gusting winds that muffled her screams.

Threatening her with what seemed to be a gun, Denyer grabbed the TAFE student's hand and led her along Paterson Avenue. "Shut up or I'll blow your head off," he said. 

Denyer dragged the teenager into Lloyd Park Reserve and brutally murdered her on June 12, 1993.

A month later, on July 12, a farmer made a gruesome discovery in a paddock at Carrum Downs, also in Melbourne. 

It was the body of 22-year-old mother Deborah Fream, who had been reported missing just days earlier.

She'd ducked out of her home on the evening of July 8 to fetch the milk she needed for her omelette dinner. She left her friend to watch her baby and the vegetables simmering away on the stove. When she hadn't returned an hour later, the friend raised the alarm.

Like Elizabeth Stevens, she'd been abducted, strangled, stabbed and slashed by Denyer.

On July 30 1993, Natalie Russell, just 17, was walking home from school when Denyer subjected her to a similarly horrendous attack. Denyer hid Russell's body in nearby bushland scrub, showing no mercy and no remorse.

The level of fear that Denyer instilled in the Frankston, Melbourne community was unparalleled. 

"Every day they [the investigators] came home after an 18-hour day, there was a sense of failure, with a fear that we would strike again, knowing he would," John Silvester said to The Quicky.

As former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said in the Stan's documentary Revealed: No Mercy, No Remorse: "You could have thrown a match and the place would have exploded. There was outrage, but more importantly, there was this genuine fear. The police were doing everything they could to identify a suspect and make the arrest. But it wasn't an easy time."

Image: Stan.

After finally being caught, and eventually admitting to the crimes, Denyer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. But as we know now, he appealed the sentence and was given a non-parole period of 30 years, eligible for parole from April 2023. 

Silvester said to The Quicky that over the last three decades, Denyer has continued to show no signs that he has changed his tune while in prison. He reportedly told one recent pen pal, that "he had to kill three" so that he could get the 'serial killer' label. 

"Before his conviction, his history was a person who was violent and abusive. [In prison] he's done none of the courses required, none of the assessments and given the parole board no justification to remotely consider him for parole."

Denyer is in his early 50s now and is actively seeking parole. 

One psychologist who was appointed to examine Denyer amid him being detained, found that Denyer showed no signs of remorse for his crimes. The psychologist also said Denyer enjoyed talking about the murders — deriving pleasure from doing it, and that he had killed at random with no clear motive. 

He has, in short, been assessed as an extremely dangerous criminal: a sadist, psychopath and serial killer.

As former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina recently said to Mamamia: "He will kill again."

For the victims' families, Denyer's potential release is heartbreaking. 

"It is a kick in the guts, he ruined our lives," Brian Russell, father of Natalie Russell, told the Herald Sun.

"We feel left in the dark. We need a bit of transparency. I've got people stopping me in the street asking me what's going on. When I tell them I have no idea, they are flabbergasted."

The women who were murdered: Natalie Russell, Elizabeth Stevens and Deborah Fream. Image Police/Supplied.

Vikki Petraitis, an Australian true crime author and podcaster, spoke with Mamamia's True Crime Conversations about Denyer's parole eligibility.

"We always knew he would apply for parole because every letter I've seen written from him, he always says 'when I get out'," she noted.

"I had a physical reaction [when he officially applied for parole]...What we want to do is stop him from being able to apply again for parole, because this is torture for the families."

Although Denyer is technically eligible for parole, it doesn't mean he will be granted it. 

But it's the fact he can now continue to apply for parole, further traumatising the victim's families, that's causing outrage. 

As Petraitis said: "This man is dangerous. If the whole world can be outraged, then that puts political pressure on the government."

Editor's note: While in prison in 2003, Paul Denyer requested to be identified as Paula and adopted she/her pronouns. Crime writer Vikki Petraitis has since spoken to several people known to Denyer who have asserted that he no longer identifies as a woman and uses he/him pronouns. 

Feature Image: Stan.