Bouwer appeared before the New Zealand Parole Board in Christchurch yesterday. The board reserved its decision.
Bouwer, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, Annette, in 2000, sought parole after waiving his right to argue for release last year, his lawyer, David More, told the Otago Daily Times last night.
The former Dunedin psychiatrist is subject to a deportation order and would be returned to his native South Africa on his release from prison.
Mr More said he was ''not reading anything'' into the parole decision being reserved.
Bouwer has been suffering from an illness, the details of which have not been made public.
''Mentally he's got all his marbles,'' Mr More said.
''But he's physically frail. He's not the man he was when he was charged.''
Bouwer was jailed in 2001 after being found guilty of administering a fatal combination of sedatives and hypoglycaemia-inducing drugs to his wife for months. The drugs mimicked the symptoms of a rare tumour.
Bouwer was jailed with a minimum non-parole period of 13 years. That was increased to 15 years on appeal by the Crown.
