A serial killer convicted of 10 murders says having a non-parole period in his sentence would "greatly assist" his "mental wellbeing" and allow him time to spend with his adult son.
The letter, written by Snowtown killer Robert Joe Wagner to South Australia's Supreme Court, has been released as part of his application for a non-parole date to be set.
In it, he wrote that he was the "father of a 21-year-old son".
"I have been in custody since he was 18 months old and would very much like the chance to spend time with him in the community," he wrote.
"I believe that by having a non-parole period set this would greatly assist my mental wellbeing.
"Even if the non-parole period was lengthy just having a date would be beneficial for me."
Wagner was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 2003 for his role in the "bodies-in-the barrels" killings, which were committed during the 1990s.
During the trial the court heard gruesome detail about his crimes, including that he and John Justin Bunting had cooked the flesh of one of the victims.
The remains of eight victims were found in six acid-filled barrels in a disused bank vault in the small town of Snowtown, north-west of Adelaide, in May 1999.
Wagner and Bunting benefited financially from their crimes by claiming the social security benefits of some of their victims.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-13/snowtown-serial-killer-letter-asking-for-non-parole-period/10897568
Hilarious. The government will literally change the law if they have to to make sure he never steps free.
Sorry man, just because you regret killing those people now doesn't give you a pass to suddenly be treated with benevolence. You killed people when you had a son that was already born and didn't give a shit that he would be fatherless because of your actions.
Whatever helps with his possible rehabilitation whilst keeping the world safe. Anything else is cruelty or negligence
10 times serial killers aren't rehabilitable.
That's something that I hope is improved on. Either way worth trying
Not giving parole to a guy that murdered, cooked people, and adding insult to horrific crime, stole social security money is "cruelty?". What a bizarre ass statement to make.
He's worried about his mental wellbeing now? Probably should have been worried about it when he first started thinking about murder, not two decades after his 10th murder.
Read better. I said "Whatever helps with his possible rehabilitation whilst keeping the world safe". Not, "he needs parole now"
Danger to society = jail until theyre not dangerous anymore.
If that never happens then jail it is.
You're putting society at risk for this one dude. He isn't worth it. He has no value.
they should just execute him rn
How many innocent people does he get to kill or cause harm to before we've done enough trying?
We should definitely do whatever we can to work towards a system where even the most hopeless people have a shot a rehabilitation, but right now we don't understand the psychology of serial killers well enough to provide most of them proper treatment. Even if he truly feels remorse, i think it's best if he stays in prison. He's just too unpredictable.
Although, if the son wants to visit him in prison, i don't see a problem with that, as long as they're both carefully monitored.
I wouldn't say that, but I'd definitely say that they're low on the list of people who should get priority.
we're talking about a guy that cooked the flesh of one of the victims
It's about as likely as any of the victims suddenly reviving
literally how would this be helpful at all besides for revenge boner
How would keeping him in prison for the rest of his life be any better?
assuming you're referring to the execution
i'm referring to either
one wonders why life sentence prisoners aren't given the option of suicide if they have no possibility of leaving however
The way I think of it, if someone's not rehabilitate-able, why waste the resources allowing them to live? Didn't they give up their humanity, their right to be treated humanely when they infringed on that very thing for someone else? For the first, and even maybe the second time, I could see murder being just life in prison as it might've been an accident, there may have been specific circumstances, etc.
But 10 people? 10 entire lives? He should've been scheduled for execution the second the court case wrapped up.
Anyone can be rehabilitated given enough time and thought, it's a matter of whether or not it should be allowed to happen given extreme circumstances.
They are in some countries.
Stop. I get where you come from is a good place and you mean it with kindness, but dude, c'mon. Not everyone can be saved and not everyone deserves it.
You can't always turn a cheek, sometimes people aren't savable and we have accept that.
Good on you for trying to see things from a positive point, and good on you got wanting better for people, but you can't always be like that bro.
This is one of the worst hot takes ive ever seen.
I understand that it is likely that no matter what we could currently do, he will never be in a state to rejoin society. I just think that any psychological help that MIGHT start to help him in some way is better than killing him or just leaving him in a box. It's better than nothing
Death penalty costs more per individual than life in prison, from what I understand, mostly due to legal costs and stuff.
I doubt he would actually kill anyone if he got out. He was manipulated into the killings by the leader of the group. During his sentencing, he said: "Paedophiles were doing terrible things to children. The authorities didn't do anything about it. I decided to take action. I took that action. Thank you." The actual leader, a real psychopath, did it out of passion, but this seems more like misplaced "justice". Not saying it was actually justified or anything, and the killings were definitely fucked up, but the motive is a lot more rational than most murders. He behaved well for the last 20 years in jail, and rose to a trusted work position. I don't think he should get out of jail, but I think he should be allowed to spend time with his son. Let him go through the processes, with psychological assessments and all. If it turns out he isn't fit for it, then deny him.
Prison is there to separate people that shouldn't be in this society. It's not there to make their lives a living hell.
I'm not sure if the son would want to have anything to do with him.
I'm not sure I would want to meet up with my dad if he had been missing from my life for 20 years and I knew that he was a serial killer.
That's honestly pretty ridiculous. Thanks for the knowledge though.
How many times do I have to say keep him in prison?
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