Pheobe Bishop: No body, no parole law may be enacted if alleged murderers don’t disclose body location

Queensland’s no body, no parole law may be put to the test after investigators in Bundaberg charged the flatmates of missing Gin Gin teenager Pheobe Bishop with her murder.

Police revealed on Thursday that James Wood, 34, and his partner Tanika Bromley, 33, had been arrested and charged with Pheobe’s murder after the 17-year-old failed to board a flight to Perth and was declared missing on May 15.

Det-Sen. Sgt Craig Mansfield said on Friday that although they had not found Pheobe’s body, they were confident they had established a motive and in time would find her remains.

Legislators in the sunshine state have made it particularly difficult for alleged offenders to continue to conceal the whereabouts of murder victims’ bodies after implementing a so-called no body, no parole system.

Under the law, a failure to co-operate and disclose information will forfeit a prisoner’s right to be granted parole.

Det-Sen. Sgt. Mansfield spoke of his team’s confidence in finding Pheobe’s body, which they believed had been “moved at least once”.

“Whilst this part of our investigation has culminated in the arrest, we are not finished with this investigation,” Det-Sen. Sgt. Mansfield said.

“Our focus has always been to bring Pheobe home. Our focus is to continue to do that.

“We’re putting every effort available to us into that and we hope that we’ll have a resolution over the coming days and weeks.

“If we do . . . locate Pheobe, we will expect to find further evidence to support our brief of evidence.”

The no body, no parole law was introduced in 2017 to pressure prisoners sentenced for homicide offences to disclose the whereabouts of the body if it had not been found.

“The policy restricts a prisoner’s access to parole unless they have provided satisfactory cooperation in locating the victim’s remains,” according to the Queensland Corrective Services circular.

If the Parole Board in Queensland decides a prisoner has not provided satisfactory co-operation in identifying the location of a missing body, a “no co-operation declaration” can be made.

When a no co-operation declaration is in force, a prisoner cannot apply for parole, including exceptional circumstances. The declaration has no set end date.

Mr Wood and Ms Bromley have maintained their innocence, claiming they drove Pheobe to the Bundaberg Airport in their grey Hyundai ix35 and had not seen her since.

“We will allege that our evidence will outline the fact that three people arrived near to the airport and three people never exited that vehicle,” Det-Sen. Sgt. Mansfield said before adding they had information about a possible motivation for the alleged murder which would “be revealed during the court process”.

Det-Sen. Sgt. Mansfield also confirmed that they had discovered a number of “deceased dogs” at the Gin Gin property at which Pheobe Bishop was living with Mr Wood and Ms Bromley.