Sister of Snowtown murder victim says she would never forgive killers

Karen Davies remembers the last words from her brother Ray before he was brutally murdered in South Australia's Snowtown serial killings in the 1990s.

"'I love you, I'll see you in two weeks'," she recalled.

Karen said she was living in a women's shelter at the time and kept asking the staff if her brother had rung or left a message.

"He never called,"

she said.

It was only later that she realised her brother had been killed by Snowtown perpetrators John Bunting and Robert Wagner in December 1995.

Bunting and Wagner were the main offenders involved in the notorious "bodies in the barrels" killings, which involved 12 deaths between 1992 and 1999.

Accomplice Mark Haydon was released into the community in 2024 after spending 25 years in jail.

James Vlassakis, who was found guilty of killing four victims, is set to be released on parole after a decision was upheld last week, despite the SA government's attempt to keep him behind bars.

Vlassakis is expected to arrive at the pre-release centre in Adelaide this week, where he will remain for up to 12 months.

The decision to approve his release has left victims' families distressed.

Karen said although Vlassakis did not murder her brother, the four people he killed could never walk the streets again, so she failed to understand how Vlassakis could be given parole.

She said his victims had received a life sentence and believed he should have too.

"You don't expect to wake up one day and know that your family member is going to be part of a serious line of serial killings. How do you cope with that?" she said.

"We've got to look over our shoulders all the time."

Who was Ray?

Ray was the eldest of three siblings and was always there in her times of need, Karen recalled.

"I was the rose born between two thorns [brothers]," Karen said.

"If I was ever feeling down or upset or had troubles … [Ray and his partner at the time, Suzanne Allen] would come around and take me for a drive," she said.

"They'd be funny, do funny gestures just to make me smile and see me smile, do little things that just make me happy and know that I was OK."

Karen also remembered that when she was pregnant, their mother ordered extra strawberry milk so Ray could stop stealing his sister's.

"[I think about him] all the time," she said.

Karen said Ray was in a relationship with Suzanne Allen, who was a former partner of Bunting.

Her dismembered body was found buried in 11 garbage bags in the backyard of Bunting's former Salisbury North home, but a jury was unable to reach a verdict on who murdered her.

Ray lived in a caravan on Suzanne's property and is believed to have been killed about four years before his body was discovered in 1999 at Bunting's former property at Salisbury North.

Karen said his murder had left her with terrible anxiety and panic attacks, adding that Wagner had been in her home and that contributed to her trust issues.

"I've had really bad trust issues. Can I trust [people] fully? Are they who they seem to be? Are they going to be something they're not?" she said.

"I know that seems sad, you should be able to trust, but I can't."

Karen says she visits Ray often, who is now buried with his mum and dad.

"I know he's not there in present, but I have a chat and tell him what's been going on," she said.

She said she would probably never forgive any of the Snowtown murderers.

Vlassakis set to be released

Vlassakis was 18 when, in 1998, he took part in the murder of his half-brother Troy Youde — a crime he committed at the behest of his stepfather Bunting.

He later took part in the murders of Fred Brooks, Gary O'Dwyer and David Johnson.

A 19-year-old Vlassakis gave evidence against his two co-accused, which led to their convictions, before being sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 26 years.

Last year, the parole board granted his parole, but the South Australian government requested a review of that decision. 

The Parole Administrative Review Commissioner last week found the Attorney-General failed to establish that reasons exist to overturn the decision of the parole board.

Parole Board Chair Frances Nelson KC said Vlassakis would be subject to parole conditions, including a curfew, restricted movements and drug and alcohol testing.

Police Minister Michael Brown has assured the community that Vlassakis would be sent straight back to prison if he breached his parole conditions.

A close family member of the victim of another, more recent murder has also spoken out in the wake of the decision to approve Vlassakis's parole.

Magda Pearce's son Lukasz and his girlfriend Chelsea were murdered by Lukasz's father in regional South Australia in 2020.

Speaking as a mother, she felt that anyone who killed another person should not be able to get parole.

"We're not talking about petty crimes, we're talking about the most heinous crimes there are," Ms Pearce said.

The mother, who is a member of the Homicide Victims Support Group, said families had to live with the loss forever, and she questioned how any time served could ever be enough.

"I never ever have a day that I don't think about what happened … it's a life sentence [for us]," she said.

"If I had any say, you throw the key away, if there is any crime that should not have parole, that's [murder's] the crime."