SA: Last Snowtown accused to go to trial

AAP General News (Australia)
07-29-2004
SA: Last Snowtown accused to go to trial

EDS NOTE: Images of Mark Ray Haydon and James Spyridon Vlassakis are suppressed in
South Australia and cannot (NOT) be published in SA or on the internet.



By Lauren Ahwan

ADELAIDE, July 29 AAP - The last trial of the accused of the infamous bodies-in-barrels
murders will start on Monday.

A jury of seven men and eight women was today empanelled for the South Australian Supreme
Court trial of Mark Ray Haydon, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife Elizabeth
Haydon and Troy Youde.

Haydon, 45, has also pleaded not guilty to assisting convicted killers John Justin
Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner and James Spyridon Vlassakis in the deaths of six other people.

Justice Tom Gray today told jurors they must be "ultra-cautious" in their conduct during
the case, which is expected to take months.

"Just let the case unfold, pay attention (and) if you have any questions, well we can
deal with them in due course," he said.

"You must be ultra-cautious. Justice needs to be seen to be done as well as done.

"I urge you not to discuss the case or your deliberations with third parties.

"It's important that it (the verdict) be the decision of the jury, not the decision
of a third party, who is influencing you in some way or another."

After entering not guilty pleas today, Haydon remained silent for the remainder of the hearing.

Last year, Bunting, 37, and Wagner, 32, were sentenced to life imprisonment without
parole for their role in 11 murders.

Vlassakis, 24, was earlier sentenced to a minimum 26 years imprisonment for his role
in the killings.

The convictions related to the discovery of eight bodies in a disused bank vault at
Snowtown, north of Adelaide, and three bodies found elsewhere in SA.

Vlassakis will be called as a crown witness during Haydon's trial.

AAP la/sl/de

KEYWORD: SNOWTOWN NIGHTLEAD

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