Serial killer linked to one of Australia's most notorious crime sagas WALKS FREE from jail after 26 years
James Vlassakis has spent 26 years behind bars after being found guilty of being involved in four of the 11 murders between 1992 and 1999.
At its monthly meeting on Tuesday, SA's parole board approved his application to serve the remainder of his life sentence under conditions in the community.
Parole Board chief Frances Nelson told AAP that Vlassakis 'does not represent a risk to the community' and would be sent to the Adelaide pre-release centre for up to 12 months and undergo a resocialisation process.
Vlassakis was 19 when he committed the crimes and was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 26 years, which expires in August 2025.
Ms Nelson said she was 'sure that the victims feel he has been insufficiently punished'.
'That's quite common for victims to feel that way, but that's not our role,' she said.
'Sentencing and punishment is a matter for a judge, not for a parole board, and the legislation prevents us from imposing our own view on sentence, so our role is simply to assess whether he fulfils the legislative criteria for parole.'
Snowtown murders accomplice Mark Ray Haydon, 66, was released on parole in May 2024 to live in the community under strict supervision.
Vlassakis was also a key prosecution witness against John Bunting and Robert Wagner, who were found guilty of 11 and 10 murders respectively.
Both are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
Vlassakis would be moved to the pre-release centre 'provided there is no request to review our decision', Ms Nelson said.
'There is a 60-day period which would enable either the attorney general or the commissioner for victims rights or the police commissioner to apply for a review,' she said.
Commissioner for Victims Rights Sarah Quick told AAP the decision would 'understandably bring fresh pain and anger to those who have already suffered beyond measure'.
'These individuals are not only worn down by their trauma, but also by the ongoing criminal justice processes,' she said.
'The prospect of Mr Vlassakis re-entering the community is a difficult reality for the victims and will require a significant emotional adjustment, adding to an already unbearable burden.
'We must never forget that - for the friends, family and loved ones of murder victims - the impact of the killing does not end simply because a prison term has ended. It is something they live with every day for the rest of their lives.'
A suppression order on images of Vlassakis remains in effect, and there has been a high level of secrecy regarding his imprisonment.
In July, Haydon appeared in the SA Supreme Court, where an application for an extended supervision order for a high-risk offender was approved, and most of the conditions of an interim order imposed in 2024 were confirmed.
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Killers must reveal where victims are before they are released, say devastated families
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But they are now pushing her to go further still and introduce a 'no body no parole' rule which means killers who don't disclose the remains can never be released on parole. Ministers will consider whether to go further on 'Suzanne's Law' as part of a consultation on parole which will be published imminently. Gail Fairgrieve, Suzanne Pilley's sister, said: 'I think that people need to understand, the Parole Board need to understand, that this crime was still continuing. It is perpetrating the crime against us. We are still dealing with this every day. 'Everyday events - you go into a card shop and you can't buy anything for your sister. It's there constantly and he has information that could just put us at ease and bring Suzanne home. 'I feel that this ruling had to consider now that he can't possibly be rehabilitated or show remorse if he is continuing to withhold this information. This information is a full part of his crime and he needs to give us that information, otherwise life imprisonment means life imprisonment.' She added: 'They have to consider it and when they look at all the considerations that the Parole Board look at to release a prisoner, (by) withholding that information from us he is not rehabilitating, there is no remorse, there is nothing.' Carol Gillies, the sister of Arlene Fraser, said: 'I feel that he (Nat Fraser) controlled Arlene when she was alive, and he is controlling her when she's dead as well. 'If the Parole Board can almost give them a choice - tell us more information or stay in jail - so he needs to make a choice, it's his choice what he does.' On the emotional impact of Arlene's body never being discovered, she said: 'It is a form of mental torture for us, it really is. I don't like using dramatic words but it is. He has that information, there is no doubt about it.' 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Sylvia Pilley, mother of Suzanne: 'I know Suzanne had justice when he was put in prison but her life has been cut short. She really wanted a family and she has never been given that, and we miss her. That's really why we are doing this.' Under current legislation, Gilroy will be eligible to be considered for parole in March 2030, while Nat Fraser - who was found guilty of killing his wife Arlene - will be eligible in October 2028. Describing why the families are fighting to deliver 'Suzanne's Law, Ms Fairgrieve said: 'We may never find where she is, and he may get out of prison and that is something we will have to learn to live with. But we can challenge the rules and the regulations now and we've got people that are committed to changing those. We will just hopefully improve the life for people if it happens to them.' Now the families are pushing alongside Victim Support Scotland for a 'no body no parole' rule to be introduced as part of an upcoming consultation on parole. Ms Fairgrieve said: 'Parole regulations are something that will effect the perpetrators in these cases but we would like to see the law changed initially so that when they come to trial they are well aware that if they never disclose where their remains or a body is there is no chance of parole. That is where the law needs to stand, we need to move towards that.' During yesterday's talks, Ms Constance is said to have pledged to consider the idea, similar to a system currently in place in Australia. Ms Gillies said: 'I think it should happen because when Nat was sentenced Lord Bracadale said 'you instigated this, you instructed this' and he obviously knows what happened: he disposed of Arlene in a very ruthless, efficient way. To just have Nat Fraser in front of the Parole Board and all they are considering is the risk or how he behaved in jail is just not enough. 'If he was to get out then it would be gone forever.' Ms Constance said: 'I am grateful to the families of Suzanne Pilley and Arlene Fraser for meeting with me today. They have suffered heartbreaking losses, compounded by not knowing the final resting place of their loved ones. My deepest sympathies remain with them. 'In March, I supported an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill that will mean the Parole Board, when making decisions about release, must take account of whether a prisoner has information about the disposal of a victim's remains, but has not disclosed it. 'At today's meeting, I reiterated my firm commitment to this change, which will become law if the Bill is passed in Parliament.'
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Families demand change to parole rules for missing body murders
The families of two murder victims whose bodies have never been found have backed a bid to change the rules on Fraser and Suzanne Pilley were the focus of two high-profile murder investigations more than a decade of both women want the law changed in Scotland so that Parole Boards must take it into account if a killer refuses to reveal the location of their victim's present the law states that failure to reveal the location may - rather than must - be considered when deciding whether someone will be released from prison. The proposed change is contained in an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill which has been tabled by Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Secretary Angela Constance said the Scottish government remained "fully committed" to supporting the families said they were "relieved" by that support. Speaking during an emotional press conference, Carol Gillies said she felt guilty to be alive after the death of her sister, Arlene, at the age of husband Nat Fraser, 53, is serving a life sentence for the mother-of-two's murder and would eligible for parole in October Gillies said that not knowing what happened to her sister was "a form of mental torture" and that Fraser had a choice to reveal what he knows."I feel that he controlled Arlene when she was alive and he is controlling her when she is dead," she was last seen on 28 April 1998 when she waved her son and daughter off to school from their home in Elgin, then vanished without a trace. Suspicion quickly fell on her husband Nat, who had previously assaulted his was later charged with her murder alongside his friend, Hector Dick, and a third man, Glenn went on trial in January 2003. In a dramatic twist Mr Dick and Mr Lucas were freed, leaving Fraser alone in the Dick, who became a witness for the prosecution, told the trial that Arlene's husband had hired a hitman to kill her, burn her body and ground up the jury found Fraser guilty of murder and he was jailed for a minimum of 25 conviction was quashed in 2009 and Fraser stood trial for a second time in was again found guilty and ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison for what the judge described as a "shocking and wicked" crime. Suzanne Pilley was captured on CCTV as she got the bus to work in Edinburgh city centre on the morning of 4 May 2010 - but she never arrived at her would later emerge that the bookkeeper had been lured to the basement of the building in Thistle Street by her colleague David Gilroy.A court later heard he murdered her there and hid her body in a Pilley, 38, had recently ended her year-long secret relationship with Gilroy, who was described in court as possessive and following day the married father-of-two drove his silver Vauxhall Vectra more than 130 miles from Edinburgh to Lochgilphead, Argyll and used CCTV to map Gilroy's movements and found it took him five hours and eight minutes to drive from Tyndrum to Inverary - a journey which should take 36 minutes. Gilroy, who turned his phone off to cover his tracks, is believed to have buried Ms Pilley in remote forest but despite extensive searches no trace of her has ever been 49-year-old was jailed for life at the High Court in Edinburgh in April was ordered to serve at least 18 years in prison and will be eligible to apply for parole in March sentencing, Lord Bracadale told him: "I hope that the day will come in your life when you feel able to disclose that information and that may bring some comfort to her bereft family." Suzanne's mother, Sylvia Pilley, said her daughter's life had been cut short."She really wanted a family and she was never given that. We miss her every day so that's really why we are doing it," she said at the press sister, Gail Fairgrieve, said she lived with the trauma of Gilroy's actions every said: "What the Parole Board need to understand is that his crimes are still continuing."Ms Fairgrieve also called for Scotland to go even further and follow the example of Australia where several states have a "no body, no parole" will debate the proposals next month and Victim Support Scotland hope the legislation will be passed before the Holyrood election next changes in Scotland mirror Helen's Law south of the border. It is named after Helen McCourt, from Merseyside, whose killer Ian Simms was freed from jail without disclosing the location of her legislation, known as Charlotte's Law, will be brought forward before the next North Ireland assembly election. Murders without a body Other Scottish cases where no body was found include:Allison McGarrigle, who vanished in June 1997 and was formally declared dead eight years later. Paedophiles Charles O'Neill and William Lauchlan were later jailed for her Spence, who disappeared in April 2011. Colin Coats and Philip Wade were found guilty of abducting, torturing and murdering the Fleming, a vulnerable 19-year-old who was killed by Edward Cairney and Avril Jones between December 1999 and January 2000. Jones then continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until it finally emerged Margaret was missing in October 2016. The pair were finally convicted in July 2019. Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that withholding the whereabouts of a body should be "an important part of the consideration" for said: "There are grieving families out there who have been unable to find closure throughout this process."And there are people, who they see that could be released from prison, that still know to this day where the remains of their loved ones are."I think that's morally indefensible. So do the families and many of the organisations that support them." 'Complex process' Defence Edith Forrest KC told the programme she had every sympathy with the families of murder victims who had never been she said she thought the proposed amendment to the bill would "make little difference to how the Parole Board approach such cases". "Rule 12 is specifically directed at prisoners who withhold that sort of information and whether they may take that into account. Almost inevitably that is exactly the information they would consider in the parole assessment."The Parole Board is there to assess risk, and that is a complex process, and something like that is exactly the sort of thing they would be looking at."Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the families had endured a "terrible journey".She said the Scottish government was "fully committed" to the amendment and there was "no risk of it being watered down".Constance said: "I want to see a strengthening of the law, a law that will require that the Parole Board must take into consideration if a prisoner has not disclosed the remains of their victim."The amendment is also supported by Victim Support executive Kate Wallace said: "It is a simple change of one word, but the impact on the families who have lost a loved one in this way will be enormous."
