James Vlassakis, the youngest person convicted in the notorious Snowtown murders, will be released from prison after serving nearly 27 years. The South Australian Court of Appeal upheld a parole board's decision on Tuesday.
Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four of the 11 murders that occurred between 1992 and 1999. He was 18 years old when he became involved in the killings in 1998 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years, which expired in August.
He also served as a key witness for the prosecution in the trials of John Bunting and Robert Wagner, who were convicted of 11 and 10 murders, respectively. The remains of eight victims were discovered in 1999, dismembered and stored in barrels within a derelict bank vault in Snowtown, north of Adelaide.
In May, during a review of Vlassakis's case, the Court of Appeal lifted a 25-year-old suppression order that had prohibited the publication of his image and identity. South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher acknowledged that the decision would be a difficult one for the victims' families and the Snowtown community.