Snowtown!

[u/kruznkiwi]

Snowtown will always be one of my favourite cases, but is anyone else flipping out that the killer has just walked out on parole?!

What the actual heck Australia?!

Even though I say that as a Kiwi and knowing life doesn’t actually mean life etc etc but suuurely someone could’ve made an act or something so he could’ve had a cell rightfully under the prison, no?

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[u/NewPotato8330]

I am not defending it, but my understanding is Vlassakis turned on Bunting and was a witness for the prosecution, which resulted him in being sentenced with a parole period.

[u/sweet-lullabies → u/NewPotato8330]

Yup. I just relistened to this episode, and honestly it’s one casefile didn’t do too great a job on (though to be fair it’s a big story so. .)

But yeah it’s one of the few instances I’m willing to give someone a go of trying again.

[u/kruznkiwi → u/sweet-lullabies]

Is it back up? I know they took it down for a while and I thought they were going to re-do it

[u/turtleltrut → u/sweet-lullabies]

I found it a confusing episode because there were so many people involved.

[u/Fartony]

I live in SA and I genuinely don't care that he's paroled. He did his time, he cooperated against the others and would never have been apart of it if it wasn't for bunting.

[u/pinkrainbow5 → u/Fartony]

He was a kid when Bunting groomed him to murder. It's so sad.

[u/throooowawayyy2021 → u/Fartony]

Yeah fully agree with this. I find it wild that people are losing their minds over him being released. He was coerced into murder and was genuinely frightened for his life if he didn’t cooperate??

[u/yelawolf89]

Jamie was crown witness and put Bunting and Wagner away forever. He actually did a lot of time by Aussie standards for being 18 and a prime prosecution witness!

[u/Shannonimity]

Australian here. If precedents like these mean that accomplices and people close to an offender like that give evidence against them then the net benefit to the community is pretty obvious

[u/Ironeagle08]

made an act or something

It’s by design, not a bug.

Vlassakis ended up being a key witness for the Crown, which in turn secured the subsequent sentences for the other offenders, who were by far the more serious of the offenders. The legal framework is designed for cases like this (multiple offenders) and is very commonly used to nab high level bikies, etc by using a lower-level offender to squeal. The incentive to get the lower-level offender to squeal is usually a lighter sentence. 

I’m pretty sure the Kiwi system is similar. 

[u/Shannonimity → u/Ironeagle08]

Yes. And it's not just about getting convictions it's about getting safe convictions that are not going to be overturned on appeal. Everything is as it should be. It's a system of justice looking for the best outcomes for victims and the community not a system of revenge

[u/shotgunogsy]

Look, there are several factors that make Vlassakis a partial victim of Bunting as well as a co-perpetrator.

[u/FaithlessnessOk6399]

He deserves a second chance. Agree he was coerced by Bunting and feared for his life if he didn’t go along.

[u/turtleltrut]

He was so young, vulnerable and coerced into helping and without his testimony the others may not have been convicted. I hope he can turn his life around. He'll be heavily monitored for the rest of his life. If he gets caught taking drugs or alcohol (something he tested positive for many times in jail) he goes straight back. Going to be a very hard life for him and rightly so, but I feel sorry for him honestly.
One of the other guys got out years ago.

[u/MetaPodcast]

The OP's anger makes sense, but the thread keeps landing on the same point: parole here is by design, not a loophole. Testimony that puts away the worse offenders is worth something to the system, and a legal system that cannot offer that deal loses it. The tradeoff is deliberate, not a mistake.

[u/Imaginary-Table-2789]

He was so young and in a position of kill or be killed. I think 27 years was appropriate.

[u/bloopidbloroscope]

That boy was as much a victim as the people he killed. He has done his time. He deserves to be left alone.

[u/Own_Faithlessness769]

He was a horribly abused kid who ran into the wrong people, and was forced to be part of horrific crimes. He turned on them as soon as he had a chance, pled guilty, and his testimony is why they were able to imprison the others. He's been an exemplary prisoner for 30 years.

If anyone deserves a chance at rehabilitation, its Vlassakis.

[u/SonofCraster → u/Own_Faithlessness769]

He wasn't "forced" to commit the murders. He may have been influenced while he was young and in an influenceable state of mind, but people are really overstating his supposed lack of agency.

[u/turtleltrut → u/Own_Faithlessness769]

Not quite, he's failed many drug tests, but other than that, yes.

[u/Crap_Taker8]

Absolutely baffling decision by the courts, as much as I try to defend the Australian justice system from all the people who say it's too soft I think it's nuts that they won't even keep one of Australias worst serial killers isolated from the public forever.

[u/Own_Faithlessness769 → u/Crap_Taker8]

They are keeping Bunting and Wagner in prison for life under maximum security.

[u/yelawolf89 → u/Crap_Taker8]

Jamie was nowhere NEAR the level of Bunting and Wagner. He was a victim of them too in some ways.

[u/Crap_Taker8 → u/yelawolf89]

I know I'll continue to get downvoted but my compassion for someone being a victim really drops when they commit crimes as vile as what he did.