A killer who spent nearly two decades in jail for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend has been charged with assaulting a second woman in a hotel room.
William Harold Matheson, 42, was arrested on Friday morning at a home in Randwick, in Sydney‘s east, after allegedly assaulting a 38-year-old woman in a Leichardt hotel room on May 17.
The convicted killer will remain in custody after being charged with sexual assault without consent and sexually touching another person without consent.
He had been on parole for just over two years when the alleged assault occurred, after serving 19 years in jail for the murder of 18-year-old Lyndsay van Blanken.
He was released from jail May 2023 with six years remaining on his sentence after the State Parole Authority accepted he was at a ‘low risk’ of reoffending.
Lyndsay’s family opposed Matheson’s release, with her mother Cynthia van Blanken warning the ‘monster’ still remained a danger to the public.
‘If they let him out next week, they will be responsible for what happens and it won’t be good,’ she told A Current Affair at the time.
In November 2003, Matheson strangled Lyndsay, his ex-girlfriend, to death with zip ties before he stuffed her body into a cricket bag.
William Matheson, 42, was arrested over the alleged sexual assault of a 38-year-old woman on Friday two years after leaving jail for the murder of his ex-girlfriend
Lyndsay van Blanken (pictured) was 18 when she was murdered by Matheson in 2003
Her body was discovered six weeks later in the garage of a Coogee apartment after residents reported a foul odour emanating from within the complex.
Matheson had grown obsessed with Lyndsay after she broke off their relationship and got engaged to an American hairdresser.
He followed her home from work before committing the brutal murder in what police characterised as a jealous rage on November 24, 2003.
A skilled cellist, he performed at the Sydney Entertainment Centre later that night, where he was seen acting ‘quite normally’ despite visible scratches on his skin.
In 2006, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years.
The Court of Criminal Appeal cut his maximum sentence to 25 years after finding the primary judge had made a sentencing error.
On appeal, Justice Clifton Hoeben said the killing was ‘brutal and cruel’ and that the 18-year non-parole period should be enforced, in a judgment backed by the panel.
His first parole application was refused after his non-parole period expired in May 2022, with the Serious Offenders Review Council finding his release would not be appropriate.
Cynthia van Blanken (pictured) pleaded for her daughter’s killer to remain behind bars
Matheson became obsessed with Lyndsay (pictured) after she broke off their relationship and got engaged to another man
His second application was approved the following year despite a submission from the victim’s family ‘strongly opposing’ his release.
Ms van Blanken described Matheson as ‘completely evil’, telling Nine News prior to his release she planned to fight his parole ‘to the last minute’.
‘He’s actually served the equivalent of my daughter’s age, which isn’t fair,’ she told the program.
Matheson’s parole was granted subject to certain conditions, including that he would live with his parents in Randwick and be monitored 24 hours a day.
He was also forbidden from contacting Lyndsay’s family.
In granting parole, Justice James Wood said delaying release any further could harm Matheson’s chance of successful reintegration into the community.
‘Release at the end of sentence or deferral of release without the opportunity of undertaking a sufficient period of support and supervision on parole… particularly in a case such as this… is likely to be counterproductive,’ he said.
He was refused bail at Parramatta Local Court on Saturday and will appear in Waverley for an AVO hearing on July 10.
