ADELAIDE, Australia — Karen Davies says she continues to struggle with anxiety and panic attacks decades after her brother Ray was murdered as part of the notorious Snowtown serial killings in South Australia.

Davies has spoken publicly ahead of the expected release of James Vlassakis, one of the men convicted in the killings, to an Adelaide pre-release centre this week.

She recalled the last words her brother said to her before his death in December 1995: “I love you, I’ll see you in two weeks.”

At the time, Davies was living in a women’s shelter and repeatedly asked staff whether her brother had called or left a message. He never did. She later learned that Ray had been killed by Snowtown perpetrators John Bunting and Robert Wagner.

The Snowtown killings involved 12 deaths between 1992 and 1999. Bunting and Wagner were convicted of multiple murders, while accomplice Mark Haydon was released into the community in 2024 after serving 25 years in prison.

Vlassakis, who was convicted of four murders, is also set to be released on parole after a recent review upheld the decision to grant his release, despite an attempt by the South Australian government to keep him in custody.

He is expected to spend up to 12 months at the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre. The decision has caused distress among victims’ families.

Davies said that although Vlassakis was not responsible for her brother’s murder, she struggled to understand how someone convicted of killing four people could be released on parole.

She said the victims had effectively received a life sentence because they would never return home, while their families continued to live with the consequences of their deaths.

Davies remembers Ray as the eldest of three siblings and someone who was always there when she needed support. She recalled how he and his partner at the time, Suzanne Allen, would take her for drives and try to make her laugh when she was struggling.

Ray lived in a caravan on Allen’s property. Allen, who had previously been in a relationship with Bunting, was later found dismembered and buried in garbage bags at Bunting’s former property in Salisbury North. A jury was unable to reach a verdict on who killed her.

Ray is believed to have been killed several years before his remains were discovered in 1999 at the same property.

Davies said her brother’s murder had left her with severe anxiety and lasting trust issues. She also recalled that Wagner had previously been inside her home, which contributed to her fear and difficulty trusting other people.

She continues to visit Ray’s grave, where he is buried with their parents, and said she speaks to him about what has happened in her life.

Vlassakis was 18 when he participated in the 1998 murder of his half-brother, Troy Youde, at the direction of his stepfather, Bunting. He later participated in the killings of Fred Brooks, Gary O’Dwyer and David Johnson.

Vlassakis pleaded guilty to the four murders and later gave evidence against two co-accused, helping secure their convictions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 26 years.

The parole board granted his release last year, but the South Australian government sought a review. The Parole Administrative Review Commissioner subsequently found that the Attorney-General had not established sufficient grounds to overturn the parole decision.

Parole Board Chair Frances Nelson KC said Vlassakis would be subject to conditions including a curfew, restrictions on his movements and drug and alcohol testing. Police Minister Michael Brown said he would be returned to prison if he breached those conditions.

Other homicide victims’ relatives have also expressed distress over the decision. Magda Pearce, whose son Lukasz Klosowski and his girlfriend Chelsea Ireland were murdered by Klosowski’s father in South Australia in 2020, said families of murder victims continue to live with their loss.

Pearce, who is a member of the Homicide Victims Support Group, questioned whether any period of imprisonment could compensate families for the permanent loss caused by murder.

SOURCE: ABC News, Briana Fiore, September 2026.