It’s been 27 years since police made the horrific discovery of human remains in an old bank vault in the small community of Snowtown – and now one of the men responsible for the gruesome murders has been unmasked for the first time.
“The community has a right to know what James Vlassakis looks like now if he’s going into the community” criminologist Tim Watson-Munro tells Woman’s Day.
In the coming months, the South Australian Parole Board will be assessing whether Vlassakis is eligible for release after serving the 26-year non-parole-period of his life sentence.
If granted, Vlassakis will become the first serial killer in Australia to be released on parole.
“We have to have faith that the parole board have considered all the facts, and that he’s no longer a threat to the community,” says Tim.
“He’s been a model prisoner in jail, and I think it’s worth nothing that he was still a teenager when this terrible series of crimes occurred.”
KEY WITNESS
Vlassakis, now 46, was the youngest perpetrator of the 12 Snowtown murders that occurred between August 1992 and May 1999.
The self-confessed serial killer was just 19 years old when became involved with the killing spree while he lived with the group’s ringleader and his stepfather, John Bunting in the northern suburbs of Adelaide.
In 2001, Vlassakis, now 46, confessed to helping Bunting and Robert Wagner kill his half-brother Troy Youde, his stepbrother David Johnson, as well as Fred Brooks and Gary O’Dwyer.
Vlassakis was also a key witness for the prosecution during the trials of Bunting, Wagner and their associate Mark Haydon.
In the 25 years since he was convicted, Vlassakis has shown a “genuine and ongoing remorse” for his involvement in the Snowtown murders, according to a recent SA Police report.
“The committment of this witness to giving evidence was not confined to a single issue or event,” a detective wrote in an April 2025 report to the South Australian Parole Board.
“His evidence traversed years of background and intricate events which called for a significant level of concentration, cooperation and committment to the task of giving evidence.
“The events about which Vlassakis gave evidence were inherently gruesome, shameful and personally distressing – at the time, he was a young man with limited family or community support.”
In September 2003, Bunting was convicted of 11 murders, while Robert Wagner was found guilty of 10. Both are currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The following year, their associate Mark Haydon was convicted for assisting with five murders – and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was released in May 2024.
VIOLENT AND GROSS CRIMES
In August last year, the South Australian Parole Board allowed Vlassakis to be released on parole under very strict conditions including a curfew, and geographical areas he was not allowed to go – but it was overturned in December due to concerns Vlassakis posed a risk to the public.
“I find that because of the gravity of the offending as described above, with the fact that this is the first occasion on which parole is available to release Mr Vlassakis at this relatively early stage would be a risk to the community,” the Parole Administrative Review Commissioner, Michael David wrote in a statement.
“These offences were very evilly premeditated by everyone – they were violent, gross and committed over a substantial period of time.”
With the parole board’s decision expected in the coming months, Tim hope Vlassakis has matured while in prison.
“They clearly feel he’s served his time and he’s demonstrated remorse,” he tells. “I think the fact that he became a Crown witness might help. Indeed the sentencing judge made a comment that if it wasn’t for that assistance, Vlassakis’ non-parole period would have been approximately 42 years.”
