New paperwork alleges that the Parole Administrative Review Commissioner erred by preventing the SA Parole Board from being involved in reviewing the choice to release Snowtown serial killer James Vlassakis.
Vlassakis was released on parole in August 2025, following the completion of the 26-year non-parole term associated with his life sentence for the killings of four victims involved in the "bodies in the barrels" serial murder cases during the 1990s.
SA Attorney-General Kyam Maher requested an evaluation of the decision made by the SA Parole Board in October.
In December, Parole Administrative Review Commissioner Michael Davidchose to keep Vlassakis in prison.
Last month, the Release Committeeit was disclosed that it had filed papers for a Supreme Court review.
SA Probation and Parole Authority 'not permitted to be involved'
The court papers, made available to ABC News, indicate that Parole Administrative Review Commissioner Michael David contacted SA Parole Board chair Frances Nelson KC on October 20, and advised her about a directions hearing scheduled for the next week. He informed her that she was "not to attend the review proceedings on behalf of the board" and that "the board was not to be involved in the review proceedings."
The papers mentioned that Mr David planned to invite both Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and the Commissioner for Victims' Rights Sarah Quick, "despite the fact that neither was involved in the proceedings".
Following an additional hearing in December, Mr David provided his justification for not permitting Vlassakis to be released.
In the court papers, the SA Parole Board stated that the commissioner made a mistake by not allowing it to take part in the review process and by letting Vlassakis speak "in violation" of the law, along with seeking input from the SA Police and the Commissioner for Victims' Rights.
The court's documents state that the commissioner's decision was invalid due to not following the procedural fairness requirements outlined above, especially since the commissioner made the decision without allowing the board to take part in the review process at all.
The commissioner made a jurisdictional mistake by not properly considering the board's decision and deviating from it without valid justification.
The papers also indicated that by denying parole, the commissioner had "replaced his perspective on the nature of the crime" with that of the sentencing judge.
"Besides noting that this was the first time parole was an option, the commissioner did not offer any justification, whether persuasive or not, for determining that releasing the inmate on parole posed a threat to the community," the documents say.
In other words, the commissioner concluded that, in his opinion, the type of offense the prisoner was convicted of required a longer non-parole period than what the court had originally decided.
The papers indicated that the SA Parole Board had requested an order to overturn Mr David's decision, along with expenses and any further rulings the court deemed appropriate.
Vlassakis is considered a threat to the public.
In his written explanation, Mr David stated that he believed Vlassakis would pose a danger to the public if set free, and mentioned that the Parole Board had "underestimated the severity of Vlassakis's criminal actions."
"The crimes were extremely wickedly planned by all involved; they were violent, extreme, and carried out over a significant duration," he stated.
Vlassakis, currently in his mid-40s, was the youngest among the four individuals sentenced for their involvement with the perpetrators.
He played a crucial role as the main witness in the prosecution's case against murderer John Bunting and Robert Wagner, who were each found guilty of 11 and 10 killings respectively.
They are each receiving lifelong imprisonment with no chance of release.
Assistant to the murders, Mark Ray Haydon,was introduced to the public in 2024, following a 25-year imprisonment.
He was found guilty of seven charges related to aiding an offender by keeping bodies at his residence in Smithfield Plains, Adelaide's northern area, and assisting in their relocation when law enforcement became aware.
A court hearing regarding the judicial review of Vlassakis is set for later this month.
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