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Snowtown bodies-in-a-barrel murderer seeking parole

A man jailed for South Australia’s infamous bodies-in-the-barrels murders in the 1990s will apply to have a time set for his eventual release from prison.

Robert Joe Wagner, 48, is serving 10 consecutive life sentences in relation to the killing spree and has applied to the Supreme Court to have a non-parole period set.

The ringleader in the murders, John Justin Bunting, is also serving life without parole.

Bodies-in-the-barrels killer Robert Joe Wagner (in handcuffs) is seeking a non-parole period.
Robert Joe Wagner pictured in 2002. Source: AAP

The 11 murders occurred between 1992 and 1999. Eight bodies were found in acid in field barrels at Snowtown, about 145 km north of Adelaide in 1999.

Wagner wants to have his non-parole period finalised to allow him to set a goal to work towards while incarcerated, The Advertiser reported.

Wagner was convicted in 2003 following his arrest in May 1999 after the discovery of the barrels.

When sentenced, Wagner suggested his motive for the killings was to act on the police’s inability to bring justice against paedophiles.

<span>The former State bank building where murderer Robert Joe Wagner stored dismembered bodies in barrels. </span>Source: AAP
The former State bank building where murderer Robert Joe Wagner stored dismembered bodies in barrels. Source: AAP

Yet the majority of his victims weren’t paedophiles and Wagner and Bunting were stealing money from the victim’s bank accounts, the Advertiser reported.

Two other men, Mark Haydon and James Vlassakis, remain in prison serving sentences of up to 26 years non-parole.

Wagner’s move to seek parole has provoked a negative response from the Homicide Victims Support Group who worry his appeal will only worsen the pain of victims’ family and friends.

“You just want them to go away and not hear about them. One of the hard things is going through all of this over and over again,” group founder Lynette Nitschke said.

“The Snowtown murders are in the category of very few where they are so horrific I think the community gets so enraged by it all,.”

With AAP

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