Snowtown murderer James Vlassakis applied for release on parole

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Convicted Snowtown murderer James Vlassakis has applied to be released on parole. Now aged in his 40’s Vlassakis was convicted over his involvement in the serial killings. Nephew of Ronald Lane who was killed in the Snowtown murders say Vlassakis’s bid for parole is a ‘slap in the face’.

Transcript

00:00This case is one which has become infamous for the gruesome ways in which victims were killed,

00:08their bodies stored in barrels in a bank vault in Snowtown, 150 kilometres north of Adelaide.

00:15James Vlasakis was the youngest of four perpetrators involved in the so-called

00:19Bodies in the Barrels murders between 1992 and 1999 and was the key prosecution witness.

00:26Vlasakis was just 19 when he committed the crimes and was found guilty of being involved in four of the murders and received a life sentence.

00:35His testimony helped convict John Bunting and Robert Wagner, who were jailed for 11 and 10 murders respectively,

00:43as well as accomplice Mark Ray Hayden, who was released back into the community last year after serving a 25-year sentence.

00:50South Australian Parole Board Chair Frances Nelson Casey has confirmed Vlasakis has made the parole application

00:58and said a hearing was at least eight weeks away.

01:01Now, due to the fact that Vlasakis assisted authorities at the time,

01:05he was given a non-parole term of 26 years and his image remains suppressed to this day.

01:12Vlasakis was pulled into the serial killings by his stepfather Bunting,

01:15who lived with him and his mother in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

01:19Nearly all of the victims of the murders were friends or family of the perpetrators.

01:24In light of the parole application, Commissioner for Victims' Rights Sarah Quick says she's consulted

01:30with families of the victims and has made a submission to the board.

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