The North Carolina prison service in the US has admitted it made a mistake in calculating the prison sentences of Molly Martens Corbett and her father Tom.
Yesterday, the service confirmed reports the two were to be released this week. However, overnight it said they will be kept in prison until next June.
The pair were convicted of the manslaughter of Irish man Jason Corbett in August 2015.
Mr Corbett's family in Limerick said this week’s events had "caused further hurt and upset" to his two children "who have already suffered far too much".
In its earlier statement, the Department of Adult Corrections said that Martens and Martens Corbett would be released this week. Following this, officials told RTÉ News to treat the statement with "extreme caution".
However, the department then sent a new statement, which said: "After further review, the initial projected release dates calculated in response to resentencing for Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens were found to be incorrect.
"The current projected release dates for both are June 27, 2024. Corbett and Martens will be transferred to state prison facilities to complete the remainder of their sentences."
A spokesman for the department said earlier that they were checking a report from a local TV station, citing a county jail officer, that the department miscalculated the release dates, and that Martens and Martens Corbett were not to be released until next June.
Martens and his daughter were sent back to prison on 8 November, after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Corbett.
The expectation was that they would serve seven months of additional time, with a final two years suspended.
The North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections had posted on its website that they were due for release this week.
It said Martens would be released from Davidson County jail today, while Martens Corbet would be freed tomorrow.
Later, the Department of Adult Corrections confirmed those dates to RTÉ News and said both would be under the supervision of a parole officer for the next 12 months.
A little over an hour later, local CBS affiliate WXII12 reported that the Department of Corrections had made a mistake in calculating the release date, and that the pair would be released in June, citing information from the Davidson Country Detention Centre Captain, T Rabon.
Capt Rabon was not available when contacted by RTÉ News.
As the release date news was breaking, the Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank, who prosecuted the case, expressed his surprise at the early release to a local newspaper in North Carolina. He did not comment to RTÉ News.
'Further hurt and upset'
In a statement this afternoon, Mr Corbett's sister, Tracey Corbett Lynch, said: "Our family were left dealing with a nightmare on Monday over this prison release error - and no one from the North Carolina justice system contacted us that day to offer help or support.
"We find it incredible that it was only on a second check of the early release sentence calculations that the error was spotted.
"We also remain convinced that, but for the actions of the Irish media and the Justice For Jason supporters in highlighting this injustice, the two killers who cruelly took Jason's life and tried to attack his good name would be released after the shocking period of just four weeks behind bars.
"We have been fighting for justice for Jason for eight long years. But many other families are not able to fight for justice for loved ones in the manner we have - the events of the past few weeks raise serious questions about the fairness and the empathy of the justice system in North Carolina.
"Other criminals in North Carolina are getting sentences of 20 years plus for non-fatal assaults. A seven-month sentence extension for two people who beat a helpless man to death with a baseball bat and a concrete paving slab is nothing less than a shocking injustice.
"This is simply not good enough for the families of victims of violent crime. Our family will continue to speak out about this and campaign for victims’ rights whether it is in Ireland or the US."
Martens Corbett and Martens were originally convicted of the murder of Mr Corbett, who was beaten to death by the pair with a baseball bat and a paving brick in the bedroom of the home he shared with Martens Corbett.
That verdict was later quashed by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of North Carolina, which ordered a retrial.
On the eve of the retrial, the pair agreed to a plea deal with the District Attorney, agreeing to plead guilty to manslaughter in return for having second-degree murder charges dropped.
At the end of a ten-day sentence hearing last month, the pair were sentenced to serve between four years and three months and six years and two months in prison for manslaughter.
They were credited with three years and eight months for time already served, leaving them with a balance to be served of between seven months and two years and six months.
Additional reporting Moira Hannon
