Marco Milliaccio with his wife Leanna Milliaccio and children (faces obscured). Marco was killed in July 2022 by Brydon Boyce. Photo / Supplied
The family of a man who died in a high-speed road crash believe the driver who killed him is a “high-functioning addict” who may do it again now he has been released from prison.
Marco Milliaccio, 45, died in the crash near Havelock North on July 4, 2022.
The otherdriver, Brydon Edward Boyce, was under the influence of methamphetamine and had been driving a highly modified car at more than 200km/h immediately before the crash.
Boyce was sentenced in December 2023 to seven years and four months in prison for manslaughter and drug and firearms charges.
However, he was released from jail this week on parole after serving less than half his sentence, despite protestations from Milliaccio’s family that he should have served his full time.
“They consider he will reoffend and that another or other families would then endure the agony of a senseless death,” the Parole Board report said.
“They are disappointed with the Parole Board for considering any form of early release short of his sentence end date.”
The report said that they considered Boyce had been a high-functioning addict for a very long time and would not be able to resist returning to drugs and alcohol, and driving under the influence.
Boyce was driving a Ford Falcon which he had modified to twice its normal horsepower when he crashed into the car Milliaccio was driving.
The car was unregistered and unwarranted, and Boyce had been banned from driving, but on that day he was showing off to two friends who were passengers in his vehicle.
When police searched the wreck, they discovered Boyce had been carrying 128g of methamphetamine, a loaded revolver, cannabis, pseudoephedrine and $11,500 in cash.
Sentencing judge Justice Andru Isac said that Boyce had been clocked driving earlier at 144km/h by a police patrol car coming the other way.
When Boyce’s radar detector went off, he accelerated away, trying - in the judge’s words - “to spare yourself from prison”, because the drugs and firearm alone would have led to a significant jail term.
Crash experts who examined CCTV footage estimated that Boyce reached speeds of between 200km/h and 250km/h before braking, losing control and crossing the centre line on a bend.
He drove into Milliaccio’s car at about 115km/h, pushing it backwards for 19m.
The Italian-born father, who was on his way home from work, died at the scene.
Boyce and his two passengers were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
The Parole Board report said Boyce had started using meth and speed in his early 20s, moving on to GBL (fantasy), and his heaviest drug use was in the three years before the crash.
He would use drugs in the mornings to give him the energy to work long hours.
He has engaged with 15 months of alcohol and drug treatment while in jail.
“The challenge for Mr Boyce is that he needs to have a safe treatment environment, highly supervised, because his opportunities for relapse will be greater than they were in prison,” the Parole Board report said.
Boyce told the Parole Board his first priority is his “recovery and sobriety” under a release safety plan.
“His second priority is antisocial associates and ... surrounding himself with prosocial community support and family support.”
“He identified himself that there should be conditions regulating his possession of firearms and in relation to his prospective driving,” the Parole Board said.
“He recognises that alcohol would lead him back to offending in respect of all those matters.
“Mr Milliaccio’s death has had a profound impact on Mr Boyce. He expresses genuine remorse.
“He is motivated to prove to the victims and to the board that he will not reoffend. ”
The release conditions imposed by the board will last until May 2031, six months past Boyce’s statutory release date.
They include living in the Te Atatu area, not going to Hawke’s Bay, and wearing an ankle bracelet to monitor compliance with this.
He is not allowed to contact Milliaccio’s family.
Boyce is banned from consuming alcohol and illicit drugs, and will attend further drug rehabilitation.
He is not allowed to possess any firearm or ammunition.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.
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