The man who helped put wife killer Brian Corrigan in jail believes he should stay there until he dies.Former investigation chief Peter Woods said he never believed the 161/2-year non-parole period for murdering seven months pregnant Kim Corrigan was adequate."He took the life of an innocent young girl and her unborn child and a wonderful family were devastated. For that he should have been jailed for the rest of his life."Convicted of murdering his wife at Kiama on July 23, 1992, Corrigan is expected to walk free in February after the State Parole Authority issued an "intention to grant parole" on Thursday.A public hearing will be held on January 22, when victims and the Crown will have the chance to present a case against his release.Mr Woods retired in 2005 after a distinguished 37-year police career during which he helped convict many of the Illawarra's worst criminals.He said he hoped to attend the January hearing, to present an argument for keeping Corrigan in jail.The former detective senior sergeant at Lake Illawarra said while the rule was to not become too close to a case, the death of 27-year-old Mrs Corrigan, who was shot twice in the head, proved the exception."You try not to let it get to you, but the more you become involved with the family ... in this case we did become involved because they were a wonderful family. They supported us 100 per cent all the way through."Kim's father Jim Taber, I took him into my confidence very early in the investigation to let him know that Corrigan was our target."He had to sit through the funeral of his daughter and future grandchild with him by his side and not be able to say anything. It takes a special type of person to do that."Mr Woods said while Corrigan, a former civil engineer with Shoalhaven City Council, was educated, he made a lot of "silly mistakes" that gave him away."He thought he was smart, but there's no university you can go to that will give you a degree in murder."During the 14-day wait for ballistics and forensics results, police had to tread lightly with Corrigan because he was regarded as both a flight risk and a "loose cannon".At one point he disappeared down the coast and made a video which he sent to one of Mrs Corrigan's friends."The tape was strange, very, very strange. He was carrying on about Kim."Then he came back, he'd tried to cut his wrists but it was a half-baked attempt, he only scratched them. It was never a real concerted attempt."Mr Woods, 60, said the move to call a press conference with Corrigan an hour before Mrs Corrigan's funeral was to flush out prospective witnesses."At that stage of the investigation we were discovering he was living a double life. He had girlfriends down at his workplace, he was having affairs and all sorts of things."My opinion of Corrigan was that he was a very selfish sort of a person."He'd married Kim and didn't have the fortitude or the strength to keep up his side of the bargain. I suppose when the pressure of impending birth was put on him, he's taken the coward's way out."