SA: Serial killer tells victims' families what happened
By Lauren Ahwan
ADELAIDE, April 30 AAP - Serial killer James Vlassakis today said he pleaded guiltyto four murders in the bodies-in-barrels case to let the victims' families finally knowwhat had happened.
Vlassakis today finished giving evidence in the South Australian Supreme Court murdertrial of John Justin Bunting and Robert Joe Wagner after spending 32 days before the jury.
Since entering the witness box in February, Vlassakis - who is serving life imprisonment- has given a gruesome insight into the alleged torture and subsequent killings by Buntingand Wagner.
Today, Vlassakis explained why he pleaded guilty in 2001 to four murders.
"There were several reasons for doing that," the 23-year-old said.
"The absolute first reason was for being safe in jail.
"One (reason) was for getting a non-parole period set, to get it off my chest, to beable to speak about it, to admit what I had done, to put my hand up and say `I done this'.
"And also (to) give other people a chance - the victims' families and stuff - givethem a chance to let them know what happened to their loved ones."
Vlassakis said solitary confinement in jail had put him at a severe disadvantage tomainstream prisoners.
"I'm by myself all the time," he said.
"I don't have any association with other people, other prisoners.
"I can't go to the education centre.
"I can go to the infirmary to see doctors but people have to be removed out of thearea so I can go in there.
"I can't work in industries or anywhere because of my situation."
Vlassakis had graphically detailed how some victims had an electric shock machine hookedto their penis, while others had toes crushed with pliers.
One victim had sparklers inserted into his penis and then lit, and the bodies of otherswere "sliced and diced", Vlassakis has said.
Many of the victims, according to prosecutors, were killed because they were thoughtto be paedophiles and homosexuals.
"They were the disease ... we were the cure and they had to go to the clinic to becured, to make them good," Vlassakis said.
Vlassakis said Bunting had become a father figure to him after his own father died.
"I treated him like an older brother, a father ... I still have feelings for him, yes,as (if) he was my father," he said.
At 16, Vlassakis was told by his mother and Bunting that they had helped kill Ray Daviesbut he did not believe them.
Three years later, Bunting allegedly showed Vlassakis the body of Gavin Porter andVlassakis' role in the killings began.
Asked why he never went to the police, Vlassakis said he started to fear for his ownlife, adding: "I was just too far involved."
Bunting, 36, has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of murder and Wagner, 31, has pleadednot guilty to eight counts of murder and one of assisting an offender.
Wagner has previously pleaded guilty to three counts of murder.
The charges relate to the discovery of eight bodies in six plastic barrels found ina disused bank at Snowtown, north of Adelaide, two more bodies found buried in a suburbanAdelaide backyard and two found in other places.
The trial is continuing.
AAP la/sl/mg/br
KEYWORD: SNOWTOWN
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