Ljube Velevski, the man who slashed the throats of his wife and three children in their Berkeley home in 1994, will remain behind bars for at least another year after the authorities on Friday refused to consider his parole for the third time.
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Velevski was sentenced to 25 years' jail in 1997 for murdering his wife Snezana and their three daughters, despite Velevski repeatedly protesting his innocence.
Mrs Velevski, 25, was found face down on the floor of their Castle Court home on June 20, 1994.
Beneath her was the slaughtered bodies of Zaklina, 6 and twin babies Daniela and Dijana.
Their throats had been slashed and a knife stashed under the bed.
Scientific police searched the home, dismantling fixtures and removing furniture in a bid to shed light on the killings.
Neighbours told journalists at the time the Velevskis were a friendly family, who mainly kept to themselves.
The woman next door said the frantic husband knocked on her door when he could not find his family.
Her husband called police, who broke into the bedroom and discovered the four bodies.
Velevski's version was that his wife must have killed the children before taking her own life.
But a coroner found Mrs Velevski could not have cut her own throat so cleanly.
There were no signs of a struggle, leading investigators to believe she must have known her killer.
Velevski was subsequently arrested, tired and found guilty on four counts of murder.
On November 26, 1997 he was sentenced to 25 years in jail with a non-parole period of 19 years.
Velevski appealed the verdict, maintaining his innocence and peddling the murder-suicide theory.
But the court ruled there was a strong circumstantial case and Velevski's conduct and explanations were not credible.
Meanwhile, Velevski became eligible for parole in May 2016 but he did not seek it, accepting recommendations made against his release by Community Corrections and the Serious Offenders Review Council.
The State Parole Authority formally declined to consider parole for the same reasons in 2018 and 2019, and again on Friday.
In a statement confirming the decision, the SPA said Velevski had "not engaged in any programs to address his violent offending" and had refused to participate in any assessments requested by Community Corrections. He also refuses to be interviewed by the Serious Offenders Review Council.
Velevski, now aged 55, will be eligible to be reconsidered for parole in May 2021. His total sentence expires in July 2022.
