The youngest of the Snowtown murderers has made history as the first serial killer to be released on parole, prompting relatives of their victims to call the decision “horrifying”.
“I broke down and cried,” says the sister of Ray Davies who was one of the eleven killed in the brutal spate of murders carried out by John Bunting, Robert Wagner and James Vlassakis between 1992 and 1999.
Karen Davies tells Woman’s Day that her “fears came true” when she learnt that Vlassakis would soon walk free.
“My legs were shaking and I thought I was going to pass out,” says Karen.
GUILTY OF MURDER
Vlassakis was 18 years old when he became involved in the Snowtown killings.
The now 46-year-old pleaded guilty to murdering four of the 11 victims in 2001 and was handed a life sentence with a 26-year non-parole period the following year.
His victims included his half-brother Troy Youde and stepbrother David Johnson
Vlassakis also became a key prosecution witness that helped secure 11 consecutive life sentences with no parole for Bunting and 10 life sentences without parole for Wagner.
“I know he gave the police a lot of information,” says Karen.
“But he still murdered four people.”
“This isn’t the outcome we were hoping for.”
Karen’s fear is that she will cross paths with the killer when he eventually freed as he will be living just 20 minutes away from her home.
“I won’t be able to say anything. I’ll probably have a panic attack and want to get out of there,” she says, imaginging the awful moment.
For no, Vlassakis remains in prison but last week the Parole Board chair Frances Nelson KC told the ABC that he would “at some point” be moved to the Adelaide Pre-release Centre.
It is believed Karen’s older brother Ray was killed in December 1995 while he was living in a caravan on the property of Bunting’s ex-girlfriend and eventual victim, Suzanne Allen.
LAST GLIMPSE
For Karen, the final time she saw her brother just before his murder is a memory she will never forget.
“Suzanne had come to pick him up and take him to her house,” Karen tearfully remembers.
“He said I’ll see you in two weeks and that he loved me… but that was the last time I ever spoke to him.”
Ray’s remains were finally uncovered by police investigators four years later. He was buried in the backyard of Buntings former house in the north Adelaide suburb of Salisbury.
Three days before, police had made the gruesome discovery of finding body parts hidden in barrels at the Snowtown bank vault in May 1999.
Karen still vividly recalls the early days of the investigation.
“The whole time, I remember hoping Ray wouldn’t be one of the victims and that maybe I’ll hear from him,” she says.
But after her parents provided a DNA sample, investigators confirmed the remains found were Ray’s.
“My worst fear came true,” she says. “It was heartbreaking and I broke the news to my parents.”
CAME TO MY HOUSE
Karen and her family, along with the killers, all lived in Adelaide’s northern suburbs and knew of each other.
Shockingly, Karen first met Wagner in 1994 through an ex-partner.
“He came into my house and held my newborn son Ben,” she remembers of that first encounter with the man who would kill Ray just a year later.
Karen also believes Bunting and Wagner tried to break into her home one night in 1997.
“They punched a fist hole in my front door. I peeked out the window while I called the police, and I now realise one of the three men was Robert Wagner.”
Reflecting on that terrifying night in 1997, Karen believes she had a narrow escape from the killers that evening.
“[I think] I was going to be their next victim,” she says.
NO JUSTICE
On September 16, South Australia’s Parole Administrative Review Commissioner and former Supreme Court judge David Lovell approved Vlassakis’ release.
It’s likely he will spend 12 months living in the pre-release centre in Northfield under a curfew. He will be banned from communicating with the families of the Snowtown victims.
Karen is angry that Vlassakis will have a second chance at life.
“Where’s the justice in that? My brother’s life mattered.”
CHERISHING MEMORIES
As Vlassakis prepares to re-enter society, Karen is choosing to focus on cherishing her precious memories of Ray.
“He was the brother I could turn to if I was feeling down or stressed. He was someone I could rely on and was always there for me,” remembers Karen.
“What if Ray had got married and had kids? What would they be like and what would he be doing right now. I wish I had my brother here.”
WHY IS VLASSAKIS BEING RELEASED?
Criminologist Tim Watson-Munro says the parole board would only release Vlassakis if he was no longer a threat to the community.
“He’s been a model prisoner in jail, and I think it’s worth noting that he was still a teenager when this terrible series of crimes occurred,” he told Woman’s Day in May when the possibility of Vlassakis’ parole was first reported.
Similarly, SA Police reports have confirmed Vlassakis has shown “genuine and ongoing remorse” for his involvement in the Snowtown murders.
“The commitment of this witness to giving evidence was not confirmed to a single issue or event,” a detective wrote in an April 2025 report to the SA Parole Board.
“His evidence traversed years of background and intricate events which called for a significant level of concentration, cooperation and commitment 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.”
