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.
Comments