Australian court rules to release youngest serial killer in notorious Bodies-in-Barrels murders

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian court ruled Tuesday that one of three serial killers convicted over the murders of 11 people in one of the country’s most notorious criminal cases can be released from prison, rejecting a state government’s bid to block his parole.The victims were killed over seven years, and most of their bodies were found in 1999 in barrels of acid in Snowtown, a small town north of the South Australia state capital, Adelaide.The discovery led the crimes to become known as the “Bodies-in-Barrels” murders.Three judges of the South Australia Court of Appeal upheld a parole board decision made last month to release the youngest of the three convicted murderers, James Vlassakis.Vlassakis, now 46, was 18 when his crimes began in 1998.

He pleaded guilty to four murders, including those of a half-brother and stepbrother.He became a star witness for the prosecution, and was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 26 years, which expired in August of last year.He was granted parole in December but the state government succeeded in overturning that parole board decision.The discovery of dismembered bodies in a derelict Snowtown bank branch and a yearlong trial that ended in 2003 captured the nation’s attention at the time, inspiring books and the 2011 movie “Snowtown.”Parole board chair Frances Nelson argued Vlassakis had “always been remorseful and contrite.” He had not been diagnosed with any anti-social personality disorder and his prison behavior has been “excellent,” she said.South Australia Attorney-General Kyam Maher, who had unsuccessfully challenged the parole decision, instead argued that the traumatic nature of the crimes justified keeping Vlassakis behind bars.“The gravity and the effect this has had on South Australia (and) the need for community safety were always the primary concerns of the state government,” Maher told reporters.“This is definitely indelibly marked on the psyche of South Australia.

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