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Greg Fisher (pictured) shared a cell with John Travers, one of Anita Cobby's sadistic killers, and says he never showed any remorse

The remorseless ringleader of the 1986 pack rape and murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby does not even think he owes her family an apology, according to a former cellmate. 

Greg Fisher was serving a sentence for drug dealing at Lithgow jail when he was put into a cell with John Travers, one of the five men who murdered Ms Cobby.

'At first I didn't know who he was,' Mr Fisher said. 

'And then I was told who he was and I rang my lawyer straight away.'

Mr Fisher's lawyer rang the prison's governor who spoke to the former corporate high-flyer about his new cellmate. 

'He said, "Greg, his crime was hideous, but he has been a model prisoner for a very long time. We've had no issues with him and that's why you were put there".

'That was a very eye-opening experience - I wasn't prepared to shut my eyes.'

Mr Fisher will share some of his prison experiences in a discussion on how the law handles remorse in an episode of SBS's Insight on Tuesday night. 

According to Mr Fisher, Travers never showed any regret or the slightest understanding of his crimes.

'It was interesting because it was the first time I'd experienced a person - and I know this sounds very strange - where you look into someone's eyes and they don't reflect back,' Mr Fisher said.

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'What I really saw with him was remorse was not in his vocabulary,' Mr Fisher said of killer John Travers. 'And he was one of the very few, I must say, in jail that I could say that about'

Anita Cobby's murder appalled Australia when the 26-year-old's body was found in a paddock at Prospect in western Sydney in 1986. She was killed by five men including John Travers

Greg Fisher (pictured with daughter Carly) knows all about remorse. 'My way of dealing with remorse has been to engage back with my family - particularly my daughter - and the community in a way that actually demonstrates that I mean what I say,' Mr Fisher says

'You can actually look into the back of their head. It was completely soulless, completely emotionless.'

Ms Cobby's murder shocked Australia when the 26-year-old's body was found in a paddock at Prospect in western Sydney. 

She had been kidnapped while walking from Blacktown railway station, pack raped and murdered. Having been dragged through barbed wire, her throat was slit with a knife. 

'It was absolutely as grim as it comes,' Mr Fisher said. 

Travers and his co-offenders, brothers Michael, Gary and Les Murphy and Michael Murdoch, were jailed for life. 

Michael Murphy died of cancer in Long Bay jail in February. The other four are still inside. 

'The only thing Travers was prepared to talk about was how he could get a university group together to take on his case and to advocate that it should be reopened,' Mr Fisher said.  

'He never showed any remorse at all. None. I just kept saying, "Do you want to apologise to the family?" He said, "Well, my time here is apology enough".

'What I really saw with him was that remorse was not in his vocabulary. And he was one of the very few, I must say, in jail that I could say that about.

'He is definitely a lost cause.'

Nurse Anita Cobby was kidnapped while walking home from Blacktown railway station, raped and murdered. Having been dragged through barbed wire, her throat was slit with a knife

Mr Fisher (left) is pictured with his mother Rosalind Fisher and former boyfriend Luke Power in Silverwater jail. 'When you're in jail, it's a strange place,' Mr Fisher says. 'You have to, in order to survive, create communities and camaraderie.' Mr Fisher was released from jail in 2012

At Cooma jail, Mr Fisher acted as a peer support inmate for another notorious killer, Matthew Elliott, who was serving life for the 1988 rape and murder of Janine Balding. 

Ms Balding, 20, was kidnapped from Sutherland train station by a group of homeless men and youths and taken to Minchinbury where she was raped and drowned in a dam. 

Mr Fisher said that while Elliott's crimes were 'equally hideous' to those of Travers, the two killers 'could not be more different'.

Elliott had repeatedly tried to kill himself in custody and his arms were covered in slash marks where he had self-harmed. 

'The reason for that is he actually finds it hard to live with what he did,' Mr Fisher said. 

'He thinks he doesn't have a right to live and he should just die.

'I'm quite in favour of not having the death penalty because the death penalty's a much kinder penalty than life in jail. 

'If you want to give somebody the worst possible penalty it's life in jail, it's not dying.

Matthew Elliott, who is serving life for the 1988 rape and murder of Janine Baliding, was another of Greg Fisher's cellmates. 'Elliott knew what he had done was just hideous,' he says

'Matthew knew what he had done was just hideous. He kept saying, "How do I live with what I've done?" and, "That's all I think about in jail every single day".

'I don't feel any sympathy for him and I don't think for one moment he deserves to get out.'

But unlike Travers, Elliott did show remorse for his crimes. 

'When you're in jail, it's a strange place. You have to, in order to survive, create communities and camaraderie. 

'As hideous as I found John Travers and what he'd done, we got on. We talked, we chatted, we watched TV together. 

'Because what's the alternative when you're in a six by three for 12 or 15 hours a day? You can't be scared - that makes you vulnerable. You can't be judgmental - that will get you whacked.'

Mr Fisher came from an upper middle class background in Sydney's eastern suburbs. He was gay but had been married to a woman and was a 'crap dad' to his daughter.

In the late 1990s Mr Fisher set up the Satellite Property and Media Group which attracted investors from the gay and lesbian community. Mr Fisher became a fixture on the social scene. He once dated 'hairdresser to the stars'  Joh Bailey. Mr Fisher (left) is pictured with Mr Bailey

In the late 1990s Mr Fisher had set up the Satellite Property and Media Group which attracted investors from the gay and lesbian community. The company was billed as the world's first 'pink float' when it listed on the stock exchange.

Mr Fisher became a fixture on the social scene. He dated hairdresser Joh Bailey, whose clients included Elle Macpherson and Kylie Minogue, and Satellite's assets rose to about $400million. 

Then the share price crashed and Mr Fisher was convicted of a corporate offence. He developed an addiction to ice, became a cocaine, ecstasy and ice dealer to fund that addiction and spent seven years and ten months in prison. 

Greg Fisher says Neddy Smith threatened to kill him for holding hands with his boyfriend

Jail came as a shock. He served time in Silverwater, Parklea, Grafton, Long Bay, Goulburn and Cooma prisons. Lithgow, was 'awful'.

Mr Fisher remembered being placed in the Aboriginal yard at Goulburn: 'I was the only white Jewish gay boy there.'

He ultimately made close friends among the Aboriginal inmates and said most prisoners did not care he was gay. 

However, Mr Fisher said he was once confronted by Neddy Smith after the notorious gangster saw him holding hands with his boyfriend during a visit at Long Bay.  

'He said, "If I ever see you f***ing doing that again I will have you f***ing killed. Don't think I can't do that here". So that was a bit scary.'

In Cooma five men set out to pack rape Mr Fisher in the shower. 'I tried to make light of it by saying, "Not today guys, I've got a headache".'

Instead, the inmates flogged him. 'Kicked me everywhere. I was black and blue, top to toe. That was probably the worst thing that happened.'

Mr Fisher, who is now CEO of Thread Together, which provides clothing and shoes for the underprivileged, talks to Insight about his experiences and the meaning of remorse. 

'One thing is to be sorry, the other is to have some remorse,' the 53-year-old said. 

'To actually understand firstly that your actions have consequences and to have some level of regret for that.

'But take if it further than regret and actually have some action.

'My way of dealing with remorse has been to engage back with my family -particularly my daughter - and the community in a way that actually demonstrates that I mean what I say.

Arthur Bolkas spent five and a half years in prison for armed robbery and he has been a criminologist for two decades. 'Despite all the mistakes I made, I've learned it's about saying sorry from the heart and doing whatever it is you can to put right a wrong you've caused'

'I use my past commercial skills for social causes now, not for personal gain.

'I actually love what I'm doing and I'm good at it. Remorse to me is an action. It's actually showing you mean it. 

'People are not stupid. They know when you're genuine and they know when you're not.'

Insight host Janice Petersen speaks to judges, other ex-criminals and victims of crime about why remorse matters in the law, and how it is shown.

The show will look at remorse as a mitigating factor in sentencing, when there is definition in law for remorse.

'How can you tell if someone is sorry for their crimes, and not just sorry for getting caught?' the program will ask.

Another guest is Arthur Bolkas, a reformed criminal who spent five and a half years in prison for armed robbery.  

Mr Bolkas could only feel true remorse for his victims years after his crimes. 

'I remember feeling some shame for what I'd done to my family, but nothing more. I wasn't capable.'

Mr Bolkas has not re-offended since his release in 1983 and has been a criminologist for more than 20 years. He is also a speaker and actor and runs a consultancy.

'Despite all the mistakes I made, I've learned it's about saying sorry from the heart and doing whatever it is you can to put right a wrong you've caused.' 

'It's about redeeming the mess you made of your life by turning it around and using what you've learned to help others.'

Insight airs at 8.30pm on Tuesday, June 18 on SBS and will be available later at SBS On Demand.

Janine Balding, 20, was kidnapped from Sutherland train station by a group of homeless men and youths and taken to Minchinbury where she was repeatedly raped and drowned in a dam