Berkeley killer Ljube Velevski is out on bail after a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
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He walked out of Junee jail just eight days ago after serving a 25-year sentence for the murder of his wife and children.
The warrant was for allegedly failing to comply with his obligations under the Child Protection Register (CPR), which required his attendance at a police station within seven days of his release.
Today, Velevski's bail conditions included having to complete the CPR before leaving Wollongong Police station.
When he left jail, Velevski walked out a free man with no conditions.
Now he's been ordered to live with his sister in Shellharbour and report to Lake Illawarra police three times a week.
A person from the neighbourhood told the Illawarra Mercury under the condition of anonymity that he had no idea that Veleski was back.
The person said they had no concerns about Velevski living in the area.
"His sister and her husband are retired and they are nice.
"I'm not worried about Ljube Velevski because he is elderly now and he has served his time," he said.
When Velevski did not report to police after seven days of his release from jail an arrest warrant was issued.
In Wollongong Bail Court, Velevski's solicitor said Velesvski only knew of the alleged CPR violation when he saw it on the news on Friday night.
Velevski then immediately reported to Lake Illawarra police station where he was arrested.
The police station is not far from his sister's house.
The police prosecutor opposed bail for Velevski, claiming he posed a danger to the community.
Sgt Coby Davis said people would be deeply concerned and Velevski was back in the community had not complied with his obligations.
Velvski's lawyer Adam Ly told the registrar his client had served 25 years for his offences, he did not apply for bail when eligible six years ago.
"He continued his detention in good faith," Mr Ly said.
"Mr Velevski is not considered a high risk by the committee which entailed a complex and detailed process as part of the High Risk Offenders Act.
"Corrections did not view him as high risk.
"There is nothing to suggest he would re-offend," My Ly said.
Registrar Cally D'arcy granted Velevski bail saying as English is Velevski's second language he may not have understood the CPR requirements on his release.
"Mr Velevski has been in jail for a period of 25 years. A lot has changed since he was first incacerated," she said.
Velevski will return to Port Kembla Court on August 2.
In 1997 he was sentenced to 25 years in jail with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murder of his wife Snezana, their daughter Zaklina and twin babies Daniela and Dijana.
Velevski has never applied for parole and it is understood he never admitted his guilt over the horrible murders.
Snezana, 25, was found face down on the floor of the locked master bedroom of their home in Castle Court, Berkeley on June 20, 1994. Beneath her was the slaughtered bodies of Zaklina, 6 and twin babies Daniela and Dijana.
A neighbour had said the frantic husband knocked on her door when he could not find his family.
"He thought she may have left with somebody who could have picked them up and that she locked the bedroom door so he couldn't get anything," the neighbour said at the time.
Her husband called police, who broke into the bedroom and discovered the four bodies.
"To us, they were very nice neighbours," they said. "They were a perfect couple."
Velevski later claimed 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.
Police arrested Velevski while he was on his way to start a shift at the steelworks on January 6, 1995.
In the court trial he'd said he'd argued with his wife, who had retreated to their bedroom with the children.
He'd slept undisturbed in his daughter's bedroom for 17 hours, waking at 6am. Throughout the day he made no attempt to speak to his wife but finally talked to the neighbour.
The jury had to weigh up the two options - that Snezana had killed the children and then herself or that Velevski had murdered all four of them.
In support of the former was the original post-mortem, which concluded that she had taken her own life.
However, police had discounted that theory and their investigations, which included the degree of injuries to Snezana's neck and family claims she was not suffering from post-natal depression, led to their belief Velevski was a murderer.
The jury agreed and, on November 26, 1997 he was sentenced to 25 years in jail with a non parole period of 19 years on four counts of murder.
Snezana's brother branded the sentence as "a complete joke".
"It was too lenient and we will be looking into that," said Mendo Josifovski.
"Four lives murdered. Explain that to me. He is a disgrace to the human race and he should not have been led into the country in the first place."
He appealed the decision, which was upheld by the court.
However, one justice believed Velevski may be innocent.
"There is, in my belief, a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted," Justice David Kirby said in a dissenting judgement.
"Further, in respect of the medical evidence, I believe that there has been a miscarriage of justice, justifying [in respect of that aspect] a new trial."
That dissenting opinion led Velevski to take the case to the High Court, which decided not to hear the appeal.
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, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
In a statement confirming the decision in 2020, the State Parole Authority 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.
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