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BROTHER BEHIND BARS

Woman Today, March 2002
by Kris Herbert

There are three women campaigning vigorously to keep convicted murderer Gresham Marsh behind bars. They are writing letters to the Department of Corrections and to MPs, asking that he be denied parole, insisting that if released, he will kill again.

These women are Gresham Marsh’s sisters.

As the people who know him best, Janine, Sharyn and Rowene feel it is their responsibility to protect society from the murderous hands of Gresham. They are also protecting Gresham from himself – "he is a selfish person who is incapable of controlling himself". And they are protecting themselves and the rest of the family from the pain that Gresham’s crimes have inflicted on all of them.

Gresham was adopted into the Marsh family when he was a tiny two-week-old baby. There are 10 children in the Marsh family. Two of them are adopted.

Rowene Marsh always found her younger brother strange. "He always enjoyed killing things."

By the age of 10, Gresham was a small-scale arsonist. By 17, he had 53 convictions under his belt – everything from burglary to assault.

The Marsh family tried again and again to get Gresham on the straight and narrow. One by one, they took him into their homes, tried to help and love him.

But when it became clear that Gresham had no interest in helping himself, the family became concerned that his violent criminal activity would escalate.

He made a comment to his sister Janine, "I wonder what it would be like to kill someone."

The family was concerned that the court wasn’t keeping close enough tabs on him. He was moving from town to town and was difficult to track down.

The family decided it was time they took some action. Gresham was due to appear in court on an assault charge against his wife.

"We felt as a family, we had to put something in writing," Sharyn Barrington says, "so I wrote a letter to the constable who was working on the case to put in front of the judge."

She expressed the family’s concern that he would kill and asked to have him put in prison.

But Gresham was released.

Ten months later, the family watched in horror the television news coverage of the murders of John and Josephine Harrisson in Te Akau.

Their hearts sank. Even before the police contacted them, the family feared that Gresham had been behind the gun that took the couple’s lives.

"The justice system made us a party to this (murder) because they ignored us," Janine says.

>"There’s only so much we can do. I loved that boy. How many chances does this boy need? You can’t help him if he’s not willing to help himself."

Gresham (and his co-conspirator in the crime, Leith Ray) are currently serving 10 years for the double murder of Mr and Mrs Harrison.

"This is not justice," the sisters say.

Gresham is up for parole in 2004 and the sisters are determined to do whatever they can to keep him from being released.

The Marsh sisters have befriended the victims’ daughter, Margaret Jamieson, who has joined the fight.

"I cannot make it right for Gresham’s victims," Janine says, her voice choked with tears. "I cannot make it right for the Harrissons but the bloody government can.

"Every time he does an action, it hurts us as a family. And I’ll be buggered if I could live through it again."

So the sisters will continue to write letters and to plead for the parole board to keep Grisham behind bars.

"I grieved badly for the Harrissons for many years and now I think I’ve got to do something to keep him inside," Rowene says.

"I accept some people can be rehabilitated but there is a small percentage that are born killers and Gresham is in that category. I’m going to fight to keep him in."

Rowene says she is motivated by a sense of responsibility.

"The justice system has let everybody down – Gresham slipped through the cracks and that really made me angry. That made me take responsibility. He’s incapable of taking responsibility for what he’s done so we the family will. If I can help the Harrissons heal even a little bit…"

Sharyn shares her sisters’ feelings that the system has not worked but she is quick to point out that the family is not looking to excuse what he has done.

"The system allowed him to run rampant but at the end of the day his crimes are his responsibility."

* The Marsh sisters have found support for their cause in the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which promotes harsher sentencing, especially the concept of life is life for the worst offenders.

Garth McVicar founded Sensible Sentencing 12 months ago and has been undertaking a public awareness campaign. Garth says 90,000 people have already pledged their support as financial and non-financial members.

To join Sensible Sentencing, call 0900 SAFENZ (0900 723 369) or find the co-ordinator nearest you by calling head office on (06) 834-9723. More information is available on www.safe-nz.org.nz.

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Woman Today, March 2002 by Kris Herbert

There are three women campaigning vigorously to keep convicted murderer Gresham Marsh behind bars. They are writing letters to the Department of Corrections and to MPs, asking that he be denied parole, insisting that if released, he will kill again.

These women are Gresham Marsh’s sisters.

Gresham was adopted into the Marsh family when he was a tiny two-week-old baby. There are 10 children in the Marsh family. Two of them are adopted.

Rowene Marsh always found her younger brother strange. "He always enjoyed killing things."

By the age of 10, Gresham was a small-scale arsonist. By 17, he had 53 convictions under his belt – everything from burglary to assault.

The Marsh family tried again and again to get Gresham on the straight and narrow. One by one, they took him into their homes, tried to help and love him.

But when it became clear that Gresham had no interest in helping himself, the family became concerned that his violent criminal activity would escalate.

He made a comment to his sister Janine, "I wonder what it would be like to kill someone."

The family was concerned that the court wasn’t keeping close enough tabs on him. He was moving from town to town and was difficult to track down.

The family decided it was time they took some action. Gresham was due to appear in court on an assault charge against his wife.

"We felt as a family, we had to put something in writing," Sharyn Barrington says, "so I wrote a letter to the constable who was working on the case to put in front of the judge."

She expressed the family’s concern that he would kill and asked to have him put in prison.

But Gresham was released.

Ten months later, the family watched in horror the television news coverage of the murders of John and Josephine Harrisson in Te Akau.

Their hearts sank. Even before the police contacted them, the family feared that Gresham had been behind the gun that took the couple’s lives.

"The justice system made us a party to this (murder) because they ignored us," Janine says.

>"There’s only so much we can do. I loved that boy. How many chances does this boy need? You can’t help him if he’s not willing to help himself."

Gresham (and his co-conspirator in the crime, Leith Ray) are currently serving 10 years for the double murder of Mr and Mrs Harrison.

"This is not justice," the sisters say.

Gresham is up for parole in 2004 and the sisters are determined to do whatever they can to keep him from being released.

The Marsh sisters have befriended the victims’ daughter, Margaret Jamieson, who has joined the fight.

"I cannot make it right for Gresham’s victims," Janine says, her voice choked with tears. "I cannot make it right for the Harrissons but the bloody government can.

"Every time he does an action, it hurts us as a family. And I’ll be buggered if I could live through it again."

So the sisters will continue to write letters and to plead for the parole board to keep Grisham behind bars.

"I grieved badly for the Harrissons for many years and now I think I’ve got to do something to keep him inside," Rowene says.

"I accept some people can be rehabilitated but there is a small percentage that are born killers and Gresham is in that category. I’m going to fight to keep him in."

Rowene says she is motivated by a sense of responsibility.

"The justice system has let everybody down – Gresham slipped through the cracks and that really made me angry. That made me take responsibility. He’s incapable of taking responsibility for what he’s done so we the family will. If I can help the Harrissons heal even a little bit…"

Sharyn shares her sisters’ feelings that the system has not worked but she is quick to point out that the family is not looking to excuse what he has done.

"The system allowed him to run rampant but at the end of the day his crimes are his responsibility."

* The Marsh sisters have found support for their cause in the Sensible Sentencing Trust, which promotes harsher sentencing, especially the concept of life is life for the worst offenders.

Garth McVicar founded Sensible Sentencing 12 months ago and has been undertaking a public awareness campaign. Garth says 90,000 people have already pledged their support as financial and non-financial members.

To join Sensible Sentencing, call 0900 SAFENZ (0900 723 369) or find the co-ordinator nearest you by calling head office on (06) 834-9723. More information is available on www.safe-nz.org.nz.

Woman Today, March 2002
by Kris Herbert