'Diabolical': Downer double murderer who slashed victims, burnt evidence could be released

Double murderer Scott Alexander McDougall, who mutilated two people with a butcher's knife before setting fire to the premises, was found guilty of murdering friends Julie Tattersall, 35, and Struan Bolas, 48, while drinking with the pair at a Downer house in September 2008.

Ms Tattersall's family was notified this week that McDougall had applied for Canberra jail's transitional release program, a gradual step down from full-time custody into the community for minimum-security offenders.

Her family was given a fortnight to make submissions about McDougall's participation in the program, a deadline which has since been extended.

"It's diabolical," her sister Amy Butterworth, who lives in Newcastle, said.

She said their family was extremely distressed by the news and shocked that ACT Corrective Services was considering releasing her sister's killer in stages.

"It was brutal, [the way McDougall mutilated her] and then he burned her body to get rid of the evidence," Ms Butterworth said.

"It wasn't a misdemeanour, it was horrific. He was meant to have life for life.

"[His prior conviction] was his first chance. He got out, and then he reoffended."

In 2011, Justice Malcolm Gray said McDougall had moved to Queanbeyan a month before the murders, from Queensland, where he was convicted for an "alarming" parallel offence - stabbing a man in the neck in a fit of "drug-fuelled violence".

"In light of what happened after his release from prison in Queensland, while not discounting his aspirations in that regard entirely, I am very pessimistic about his rehabilitative prospects," Justice Gray had said.

McDougall had pleaded not guilty to both murders, stating he killed Mr Bolas in self-defence and didn't know what happened to Ms Tattersall because he was intoxicated. However, he pleaded guilty to deliberately starting a fire to destroy evidence.

Justice Gray ruled McDougall was driven by a "frenzied bloodlust to kill his victims in a most appalling way" and handed him two life sentences in prison for the deaths of Ms Tattersall and Mr Bolas.

There was no non-parole period specified in the verdict, which also ordered McDougall to serve five years for arson.

Ms Butterworth, in tears, said the sisters last saw each other for dinner at their mother's house in Turner. She said their mother couldn't bear to live in Canberra after Ms Tattersall's death.

"She lived around the corner from where Julie was murdered, and driving past Julie's address, the street, the church, it was just too much for mum," Ms Butterworth said.

"We didn't get to say goodbye. [The authorities] wouldn't even let us touch [Julie]. They had her wrapped in the coffin because her body was so bad."

About 10.30pm on September 10, 2008, emergency services were called to the scene of a house fire on Raine Place, in Downer.

Court documents revealed the fire caused extensive smoke and damage in a home where Julie Tattersall and Struan Bolas' were found deceased.

Firefighters found Mr Bolas' body with significant injuries to his head and body, while Ms Tattersall had significant head injuries and burn injuries to her face, torso, and hand.

The court heard McDougall had been drinking with the pair earlier that evening when he got into an argument with Mr Bolas and attacked him with a wooden-handled meat cleaver in his home.

When Ms Tattersall walked into the room and began screaming, the court was told McDougall said: "I give it to her too".

In 2011, the double killer became the first person in the ACT to be convicted of murder in more than a decade.

Julie Tattersall's other sister, Belinda Siataga, said she was the only family member who had seen photos from the crime scene.

"My sister was so severely burnt you couldn't even identify whether she was a male or a female."

Ms Butterworth said she felt for the first responders who had to have counselling after retrieving her sister's body.

Ms Siataga said her family had not received any updates on McDougall's reclassification, therapeutic programs or his progress since 2014, when his classification was downgraded from maximum to medium security.

"By the hands of McDougall, our sister received the death sentence. We received the life sentence. And McDougall received bed and breakfast," she said.

"We are being kept in the dark - while his path toward the community is quietly being prepared."

The assistant director of the ACT Victims Register confirmed McDougall's classification was changed to minimum in December 2024, and apologised to the family for the lack of communication.

She said since the victims register was moved from corrections to the ACT Human Rights Commission in December 2022, they had not received any regular updates from ACT Corrective Services regarding detainee security classification, including changes to classification.

"To date, you are the first victim to highlight this systemic gap with us, and we plan to promptly work to resolve this issue and ensure we receive this information from ACT Corrections to pass on to registered victims," she wrote in an email to Ms Siataga.

Ms Siataga said supporting McDougall's return to the community was not only unjust but extremely dangerous.

"It's just harrowing," Ms Butterworth said.

"If he's put out in the community, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when he's going to re-offend, and those people are going to have blood on their hands for what they're allowing."

ACT Corrective Services was contacted for comment.