James Spyridon Vlassakis, the youngest perpetrator in the notorious South Australian bodies in the barrels
Snowtown serial killings, has been photographed leaving the Adelaide Pre-release Centre. His release follows a confirmed parole decision and a failed legal challenge by the South Australian government.
James Vlassakis Leaves Adelaide Pre-release Centre After Parole Upheld
Forty-six-year-old James Spyridon Vlassakis has been filmed leaving the Adelaide Pre-release Centre after having his parole confirmed. The decision to release Vlassakis followed the completion of his non-parole period and was upheld in September after the South Australian government attempted to block it.
Vlassakis moved from a South Australian prison to the transitional facility, which is located in Adelaide’s northern suburbs alongside Yatala Labour Prison, for a short trip to a nearby Department for Correctional Services office. Dressed casually in black jeans and a striped polo shirt, he walked across a facility car park with a Department for Correctional Services staff member before entering a white vehicle and being driven away. He was later seen returning to the facility after approximately an hour.
During his brief public sighting, Vlassakis chose not to answer questions from reporters who confronted him outside the centre. He will reside at the transitional center for a period of up to twelve months while the Parole Board observes his progress and establishes the rules he must follow upon his eventual transition into the community.
History of the Snowtown Murders and Convictions
Vlassakis was the youngest of the four perpetrators involved in South Australia’s infamous Snowtown murders, a killing spree that took place between 1992 and 1999 and claimed twelve victims.
The case earned its gruesome shorthand when police discovered human remains stored in plastic barrels inside an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown.
Additional human remains were subsequently located in the backyard of a former residence belonging to co-offender John Bunting situated in Salisbury North, located on Adelaide’s northern outskirts. Investigators also connected remains found in Lower Light, positioned north of Adelaide, to the overall case. Bunting received multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole, while fellow serial offender Robert Joe Wagner was handed ten life sentences.
In 2002, Vlassakis was sentenced to four life terms for his role in the murders of Fred Brooks, Gary O’Dwyer, David Johnson, and his half-brother, Troy Youde. Because he agreed to assist law enforcement and provide key testimony against primary co-offenders John Bunting and Robert Wagner, the court granted him a reduced non-parole period of 26 years. Having served that required minimum sentence, his parole application was approved last year.
Parole Administrative Review Commissioner David Cameron KC noted in a decision that Mr Vlassakis, while a young man, came under the influence of Mr Bunting, a person who he looked up to as a father figure. Cameron further observed that such a power dynamic cannot be repeated because Bunting is serving life under maximum security without any possibility of release.
Strict Conditions Imposed on Released Offender
Under the parole process, Vlassakis can spend up to 12 months at the Adelaide Pre-release Centre while the Parole Board monitors his progress and determines the conditions that will apply when he is released into the community. Parole Board chair Frances Nelson KC previously outlined the strict regulations governing his release.
Nelson also added that he is liable to random drug and alcohol testing, he must obey the conditions at the pre-release centre [and] he’ll be sent off for psychological intervention
.
According to Nelson, his parole stipulations explicitly forbid him from leaving the state without authorization from the Parole Board, prohibit any contact with the families of the victims, and establish specific geographical exclusion areas to keep him away from locations close to victims’ relatives. She also confirmed that Vlassakis is legally barred from speaking with members of the media.
A government spokesperson emphasized that Vlassakis remains a life-sentenced offender who would be subject to strict conditions for the remainder of his life, noting that any breach of those conditions could result in Mr Vlassakis being returned to custody. Officials stated that thoughts firmly remain with the families of the victims, who have lived with the consequences of these terrible crimes for more than two decades.