Australia’s first serial killer to receive parole refused to answer questions as he re-entered the community after 26 years in prison.
asserted
he → receive → prison
James Vlassakis, who was the youngest of the three notorious murderers involved in South Australia’s grisly Snowtown Bodies in the Barrels case in the 1990s, temporarily left the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre at noon on Tuesday.
asserted
who → involve → Tuesday
He was driven by a case officer in a Toyota RAV4 SUV to the North East Community Corrections Centre in Holden Hill, in the city’s northern suburbs, where he attended a 90-minute meeting.
asserted
he → drive → meeting
Sporting a fresh haircut and without the goatee Vlassakis has had since first facing court in 2001, the 46-year-old was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘freestyler’ - perhaps in a nod to his newfound partial freedom.
asserted
old → sport → freedom
Vlassakis, who killed his half-brother Troy Youde in a bathtub at a rented home in Murray Bridge in 1998, had been serving time since 2002 for his role in four of the 11 Bodies in the Barrels murders.
asserted
who → kill → murders
He was 18 when he killed his 24-year-old stepbrother David Johnson in the abandoned State Bank building in Snowtown, 150km north of Adelaide with a population of less than 500, in 1999.
asserted
he → kill → 1999
Johnson was the only victim physically killed in Snowtown, where the murderers stashed the dismembered remains of eight of their 11 victims.
asserted
murderers → kill → victims
The body parts were found floating in hydrochloric acid within six 44-gallon blue plastic barrels, with the killers attempting to dissolve their victims - making them difficult for police to initially identify.
Snowtown murderer James Vlassakis was seen out in the community on Tuesday
The 46-year-old is the first Australian serial killer to receive parole
He attended a corrections centre accompanied by a case officer on Tuesday afternoon
Vlassakis was just 18 at the time of the killings – he pleaded guilty to four murders.
asserted
he → find → murders
Vlassakis lured his stepbrother to the bank vault on the premise that there was a cheap computer for sale there.
asserted
Vlassakis → lure → sale
Bunting and Wagner, who were lying in wait, overpowered Johnson, killed him, and reportedly fried and ate a piece of his flesh, according to court evidence.
uncertain
who → lie → evidence
The Daily Mail confronted Vlassakis as he left the community corrections centre after a 90-minute afternoon appointment.
asserted
he → confront → appointment
He was asked on camera if he had anything to say to his victims’ families, and how he felt about two of those victims being his own family members.
He was also asked if he was enjoying returning to Adelaide - the hunting ground of Wagner and Bunting, who was described as a father figure to Vlassakis at the time of the brutal murders.
As part of his parole conditions, Vlassakis is forbidden from speaking to the media.
asserted
Vlassakis → ask → media
He steadfastly refused to respond to the reporter's questions, keeping his piercing blue eyes downcast as he followed his case officer meekly to his waiting vehicle.
asserted
he → refuse → vehicle
In a bid to avoid the Daily Mail, he mistakenly tried to enter the driver's side front door of the reverse-parked Toyota.
asserted
he → avoid → Toyota
Vlassakis steadfastly refused to address the Daily Mail's questions
Eight bodies were found inside a disused bank vault in Snowtown, South Australia
Vlassakis (pictured behind bars) has undergone a makeover since leaving prison
In 2025, Vlassakis’ approved bid for parole was overturned by the SA Government, which again tried to block his release this year.
asserted
which → refuse → release
But in September, a legal challenge failed and he was transferred to the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre, where he will enjoy low-security imprisonment until he can return to the community under strict, lifelong parole conditions next year.
asserted
he → fail → conditions
Vlassakis’ co-murderers, John Bunting and Robert Wagner, are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole at nearby Yatala Labour Prison.
asserted
murderers → serve → Prison
Accomplice Mark Haydon walked free in 2024 after serving a 25-year sentence.
asserted
Haydon → walk → sentence
Vlassakis was also involved in the sadistic torture and killing of 18-year-old Frederick Brooks, after his role model Bunting claimed he was 'touching up little girls'.
asserted
he → involve → girls
He also pleaded guilty to taking part in the murder of disabled 29-year-old Gary O’Dwyer.
asserted
He → plead → O’Dwyer
Vlassakis was just 18 when he was arrested for murder after police stormed the bank vault in Snowtown in May 1999, making the grisly barrel discovery that would haunt the village in the state's Mid North forever and inspire a 2011 movie by the same name.
uncertain
that → arrest → name
John Bunting, Robert Wagner and Mark Haydon were convicted of their charges
Dismembered body parts were found in blue plastic 44-gallon barrels
He killed people he suspected of being paedophiles or homosexuals - with little evidence - and plotted out the murders on a 'rock-spider wall' containing names of his targets interconnected with string.
asserted
he → convict → string
The murderers often impersonated their victims, collecting their government benefits after the person had died.
asserted
person → impersonate → benefits
After pleading guilty, Vlassakis became a witness for the crown, helping secure the convictions of Bunting, Wagner and Haydon.
asserted
Vlassakis → plead → Bunting
He will now spend the next year learning to reassimilate to society, with prisoners at the Pre-Release Centre encouraged to spend time in the community.
asserted
prisoners → spend → community
Around 84 mixed-gender inmates are housed in low-security, self-contained cabins overlooking busy Grand Junction Road, where they do their own laundry and are free to exercise on a grassed half-football oval.
asserted
they → house → oval
Some are in charge of maintaining the facility's gardens, while others are seen joining work gangs that depart the centre each morning.
asserted
that → maintain → centre
It's also understood prisoners spend time with rescue animals, with dogs from Greyhounds as Pets SA adoption service seen entering the facility on Tuesday afternoon.
asserted
dogs → understand → afternoon
Many inmates appear to have struck up friendships behind the razor wire, and are seen strolling the grounds in pairs and groups after work detail is complete.
Vlassakis' stepbrother David Johnson was murdered in Snowtown
Vlassakis murdered his half-brother Troy Youde in a bathtub in Murray Bridge
Mark Haydon, who helped store and move the bodies, was released in 2024
When Vlassakis is released, he will be subject to strict parole conditions for the remainder of his life.
asserted
he → appear → life
He is forbidden from entering Snowtown, as well as nine other geographical locations due to their proximity to victims' families.
asserted
He → forbid → families
He is strictly prohibited from contacting the victims' families, as well as speaking to the media or profiting from his crimes.
asserted
He → prohibit → crimes
A curfew, along with drug and alcohol testing, will be enforced, along with ongoing psychological treatment.
asserted
curfew → enforce → treatment
He must seek permission from the parole board to leave the state.
asserted
He → seek → state
Any breach of these conditions will see him back in custody.
asserted
him → see → custody
Until his move to the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre, Vlassakis was in protective custody at Mt Gambier Prison, in South Australia's south-east, due to his role in helping secure convictions for Bunting, Wagner and Haydon.
asserted
Vlassakis → help → Bunting
Haydon, who was convicted as an accomplice for helping store and move the bodies, was released into the community in 2024 and is believed to live in Adelaide's north-western suburbs.
asserted
who → convict → suburbs
Vlassakis pleaded guilty to the murder of Frederick Brooks (pictured)
asserted
Vlassakis → plead → Brooks
He was also involved in the killing of Gary O'Dwyer (pictured who was tortured and strangled
Until May, Vlassakis' image had been suppressed for his own protection for 25 years.
uncertain
image → involve → years
Bunting and Wagner were locked up for life receiving 11 and 10 consecutive terms of life imprisonment respectively, with the remaining victims including Clinton Tresize, Ray Davies, Michelle Gardiner, Vanessa Lane, Thomas Trevilyan, Gavin Porter and Elizabeth Haydon.
asserted
victims → lock → Tresize
Prosecutors were unable to secure a conviction for a 12th victim, Suzanne Allen, who the defence argued had died of a heart attack before she was dismembered.
asserted
she → secure → attack
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
