A convicted killer who now identifies as a woman has had his prison transfer request blocked by New South Wales authorities, more than 18 months after the application was first lodged.

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Terry Mark Donai, who now goes by McKenzie Donai, was sentenced to 43 years behind bars in 2007 for the calculated murders of Bill and Pamela Weightman, carried out in 2000 alongside the couple’s adoptive son, David Weightman.

The victims were drugged and suffocated in a chilling plot staged to look like an accident, with the motive reportedly a promised $17,000 payout. Their bodies were discovered in a crashed car in the Royal National Park. It wasn’t until David Weightman confessed to police that the truth emerged.

Donai has since begun hormone therapy and lodged a request to be transferred from a men’s prison to a women’s facility. However, Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) is expected to reject his bid “due to safety issues”.

“To be very clear – there are no transgender inmates housed in a Correctional Centre of the opposite sex they were assigned at birth,” CSNSW said in a statement..

“We are not running the risk of an inmate convicted of sexual assault on a woman, nominating a change of gender, and then trying to enter a woman’s prison. It’s not going to happen.”

NSW acting premier Ryan Park also weighed in, telling The Daily Telegraph that the move “won’t be happening”.

“This individual is convicted of murdering a woman,” he said.

“I don’t find it acceptable, and I don’t think the community would find it acceptable.”

The formal request has reportedly been under assessment since 2023, prompting concerns from the NSW Ombudsman over the length of time taken to deliver a decision.

Sources within the department indicated the delay stemmed from the potential security risk posed by the transfer.

“Corrective Services NSW has always had strict guidelines and assessment processes that determine the placement and management of transgender people in custody,” CSNSW said.

“All transgender inmates are currently accommodated in facilities corresponding to their sex assigned at birth.”