Parole worker arrested in hotel bed with fugitive killer pleads guilty

A former Northern Territory legal aid staffer who was busted asleep in bed with a convicted killer after helping him flee his parole in Alice Springs has pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Samantha Alampi, 37, faced the NT Supreme Court yesterday, where she formally admitted to helping the then 19-year-old evade authorities after he removed his ankle monitor in November 2024.

The man, who was convicted of manslaughter as a youth three years earlier — and cannot be named for legal reasons — had been out on parole and living at a hostel in Alice Springs for four months when he absconded.

The court heard Alampi, then 36, was working as a throughcare coordinator at the time, and was assisting the man with his parole bid before continuing to support him on his release until he removed the ankle bracelet on November 6.

A statement of agreed facts tendered in court revealed his parole officer contacted Alampi the following day, telling her the man had "cut and run" and asking if she knew where he was.

"I do know why, I don't know where and I don't know with who," she replied.

During a separate conversation that afternoon, Alampi told the parole officer: "I can't believe what's happened".

"I'm guessing he would be in Darwin by now,"

she said.

Alampi said she had met the parolee the night before at the Braitling Oval, where he was "upset" and had been "thinking about self-harm", but had not said anything because "to share that information might compromise my relationship with him".

At 11:22pm that night, Alampi was captured on CCTV footage escorting the man into a room she had reserved in her name at the Diplomat Hotel on Gregory Terrace.

According to the statement of facts, police found Alampi the following day in the man's hostel room packing his belongings into a garbage bag, telling them she would store them at work and was aware he would be going back to jail.

Instead, she drove directly to the Diplomat, before checking out a day later and booking a room at the nearby Mercure Resort, where CCTV cameras captured her walking towards the accommodation wing.

"The CCTV footage then captures [the parolee] appearing from the direction of the car park, and then following the offender approximately 10 metres behind," the document reads.

"The offender then went into the accommodation wing and walked towards room 230 before gaining entry to the room via key fob access.

"[The parolee] followed the offender into the room, obscuring his face from the CCTV cameras by using a piece of clothing."

Police then raided the hotel room in the early hours of November 10, finding the pair asleep in bed and arresting the parolee and his "fully clothed" accomplice.

'Do you want to chill later?'

A subsequent analysis of Alampi's phone uncovered text messages exchanged between the pair in the lead-up to the man's attempted getaway, in which they told each other "love you".

"Today has been one of those days where it feels pretty clear that I care about our relationship more than you do," she wrote on November 5.

After the man's parole was revoked on November 7, Alampi wrote: "At least let me know where I can leave something for your… [sic] if you don't trust me enough…?", accompanied by a sad face emoji.

"Can you bring me clothes n yeah I trust you with my life," he replied.

One minute later, the parolee asked "Do you want to chill later on tonight", to which Alampi responded "Yes!!".

"I don't have your stuff yet though.. they wouldn't let me get it today I have to go tomorrow morning," she wrote.

After the man told Alampi the next day "cops are coming for me", she tried to persuade him to hand himself in, and he asked her to tell prison authorities that he would "come in" with her.

"Let me sleep then we go in the morning," he wrote.

But the statement of facts shows Alampi "made it clear" in subsequent text exchanges "that she expected that the [parolee] would leave for Darwin in the morning, and that she wanted to see him before he left".

Alampi will return to court for sentencing on June 29.