Snowtown killer James Vlassakis transferred to Adelaide pre-release centre ahead of potential community release

Snowtown killer James Spyridon Vlassakis is today being transferred to the Adelaide Pre-release Centre, marking the first step towards his release into the community.

The decision to release Vlassakis — following the completion of his non-parole period — was upheld earlier this month after the South Australian government attempted to block it.

The 46-year-old will live in the pre-release centre, at Yatala in Adelaide's northern suburbs, for up to 12 months while the Parole Board monitors his progress and decides what his conditions will be once he is released into the community.

He had been residing at a South Australian prison.

Vlassakis was the youngest of the four perpetrators involved in the so-called "bodies in the barrels" serial killings between 1992 and 1999.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 26 years after pleading guilty to his involvement in the murders of Fred Brooks, Gary O'Dwyer, David Johnson and his half-brother Troy Youde.

Vlassakis was a key prosecution witness and played a part in securing convictions against John Bunting and Robert Wagner who were jailed for 11 and 10 murders respectively after they were found guilty at trial.

Ronald Lane, the nephew of Snowtown victim Barry Lane, also known as Vanessa Lane, said he thought Vlassakis's sentence was "very soft".

"I just think the laws need to be look into and changed so that nobody else has to go through the same sort of thing that myself and my family have gone through," he said.

Vlassakis was not involved in the murder of Mr Lane in October 1997.