Killer 'motivated' to reveal body location

A man who murdered his wife 19 years ago now has a "powerful motivation" to reveal her body's location, the Queensland Parole Board has heard.  

Clive Anthony Nicholson is serving life in jail for the murder of his wife, Julie, in July 2003 at their Gold Coast home.

Nicholson's murder trial in 2006 heard he bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer before dumping her body in the nearby Southport Seaway.

Julie's remains have never been found, blocking Nicholson's early release under Queensland's No Body No Parole law.

Nicholson, now aged in his early 70s, faced a Parole Board hearing in Brisbane on Wednesday, with his barrister Erin Longbottom arguing that he was now telling the truth after years of "lies".  

The Queensland Supreme Court last year granted Nicholson the chance to contest the board's prior declaration that he was a "no co-operation prisoner" in terms of finding Julie's body.

Nicholson sent multiple letters in 2003 - before he was charged with murder - that stated he disposed of Julie's body at the seaway, also known as The Spit.

Nicholson again gave this version of events to police during an interview in 2017. 

In January 2019, Nicholson contacted detectives and said he had further information concerning the whereabouts of Julie's body.

Nicholson said he buried her in a hole about two feet deep at Cedar Grove, about halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The detectives took Nicholson to Cedar Grove, where he identified multiple potential burial sites.

Subsequent police searches, including with the use of cadaver dogs, turned up nothing.

Ms Longbottom told the parole hearing that Nicholson was now incentivised to cooperate due to the No Body No Parole law.

"He has no motivation to lie and a powerful motivation to tell the truth; the Cedar Grove account should there fore be held as credible," Ms Longbottom said.

Ms Longbottom said Nicholson should be believed as his Cedar Grove account had "adversely affected" his chances of parole as it was easier to test and disprove.

Parole Board Queensland deputy president Peter Shields asked what the hearing should make of Nicholson's prior evidence that now seemed to be false.

"The law provides powerful motivation to tell the truth under oath and it's called perjury. These two accounts are completely at odds with each other," Mr Shields said.

Ms Longbottom said Nicholson's prior evidence was a "critical" issue but he had been on trial and facing life in jail.

"Perjury was not adding motivation," she said.

Ms Longbottom also said Nicholson's Christian faith and desire to maintain a relationship with his daughter had also contributed to him changing his story.

Counsel assisting Timothy Ryan told the hearing that Nicholson's evidence and motivation "cannot be accepted at face value and must be placed under scrutiny".

"The board is ultimately required to consider a broader question: Whether the prisoner has co-operated by stating he buried his victim at Cedar Grove," Mr Ryan said.

"He could still be motivated to conceal body as to preserve his version that it was an accident. Without an autopsy it is impossible to tell the cause of death."

Mr Shields reserved a decision on Nicholson's no co-operation status to a date to be fixed.

Mr Ryan said there could be a need for another hearing, depending on his discussions with Nicholson's counsel.