Mark Slaven remembers Troy Youde as ‘loyal mate’ 25 years after the Snowtown murders

For 25 years Mark Slaven has privately grieved his best mate, killed in the infamous Snowtown murders. Now he is speaking up for him.

Mark Slaven has publicly opened up about his best mate Troy Youde for the time since his brutal murder 25 years ago. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Troy Youde was an energetic, loyal friend who loved his heavy metal music and having a bash on the drums.

This is how his best mate Mark Slaven remembers the carefree 21-year-old.

But to others, he says, Troy’s life has become a “footnote” to one of the most shocking crimes in the state’s history; his name mentioned only in passing as many prefer to pour over the gruesome details of the Snowtown murders rather than remember the victims.

It has always bothered Mr Slaven that his best friend’s memory has not only been lost in the fascination with the Bodies in the Barrels case but also that his reputation in death has been tarnished by an unproven allegation of one of the murderers.

For over two decades, Mr Slaven – now an Adelaide school teacher – has kept his connection to Troy quiet, speaking of it only to those closest to him.

But as Monday marked the 25th anniversary of the discovery of eight of the 11 victims – Troy included – in a bank vault in Snowtown, Mr Slaven has decided it is time to speak up for his friend and tell people about the real Troy.

Troy Youde was full of energy and a loyal friend, his best mate Mark Slaven says. Picture: Supplied

“He was a really loyal mate,” he said.

“He was always full of energy and full of opinions.”

Mr Slaven, 47, of Birdwood, said he and Troy met when they were both in Year 9 at Croydon High School.

“He came to Croydon High School because he had become the full-time carer for his Nan and she lived in Renown Park,” he said.

“He gave everything for his Nan when she was alive and he was like that with his mates too. “He would give his last dollar if he had it.”

In fact, because Troy received a full carer’s pension to look after his beloved Nan, he would sometimes shout his mates to McDonald’s after school, never asking for anything in return.

But it was their mutual love of “all things rock and heavy metal” that made Mr Slaven and Troy kindred spirits.

“He was a drummer (so) him and I basically formed our first ever school band,” he said.

Mr Slaven fondly remembers jamming to Black Sabbath, ACDC, Metallica and Iron Maiden in the school’s music studio.

“We were always having debates on the oval while we were smoking our cigarettes … who were the better performers and it was an ongoing argument,” he said.

Mark Slaven has publicly opened up about his best mate Troy Youde for the time since his brutal murder 25 years ago. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Mr Slaven and Troy remained best friends until around the age of 20, when John Bunting – the depraved ringleader of the Snowtown murders – drove a wedge between them.

Mr Slaven only met Bunting once, at Troy’s house, but it was enough to know he was bad news.

“He was pretty hostile towards me from the outset,” he said.

“He was just like ‘who’s the hell is this guy? What the f*** does he want’?’.”

Bunting kept hurling abuse at Mr Slaven who eventually left.

“This guy’s a complete bloody head job,” he warned Troy at the time.

“We went out the front and I said (to Troy) ‘you’re welcome at my house anytime mate, you know that, but I can’t hang out with people like that’.”

“So our last words weren’t very nice. They weren’t an argument but they weren’t a polite farewell, and that’s always been something that has never sat well with me.”

Tragically, it was the last time Mr Slaven saw Troy alive.

About eighteen months later, he learnt Troy had been murdered.

Snowtown serial killer John Justin Bunting

“I turned my TV on one night and obviously saw the story (about the Snowtown murders) and then they put the photos up and they mentioned that James Vlassakis was one of the accused which obviously got my ears up pretty quickly,” he said.

Mr Slaven had known Vlassakis – Troy’s half-brother – for years.

“Then it came out about a week or so later who the victims were,” he said.

And later, Vlassakis, who pleaded guilty to four of the murders, alleged Troy had sexually abused him when he was 13 years old.

“Everyone who knows Troy, to this day, they all say the same thing: ‘there is no way’,” he said.

Mr Slaven says while Troy was a “scapegoat” then, he now sadly seems just a “footnote” to the Snowtown murders story – a perception he wants to change.

“Troy was a person. He had friends. He had family; people around him who cared for him and he cared for us,” he said.

“He was just a victim, full stop.”

Mark Slaven and another friend held a vigil for Tory Youde, featuring drum sticks, on Croydon High School’s oval on Monday night. Picture: supplied.

John Bunting was found guilty in 2003 of murdering 11 people in the Bodies in the Barrels case, while his accomplice Robert Wagner pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and was convicted of another seven. Both killers are serving multiple life sentences in prison with no chance of parole.

The third killer, Vlassakis, was sentenced to 26 years in jail for his part in the killings. He will be eligible for parole next year.

Meanwhile, Mark Ray Haydon, who served a 25-year prison term for covering up the murder spree and was present when Troy was killed was released from jail last week.

But rather than dwell on Haydon’s freedom, Mr Slaven prefers to focus on his mate.

He and another friend sat on the Croydon High School oval on Monday night, blasted Iron Maiden on a bluetooth speaker and reminisced about the fun times they’d shared with Troy.

“I can at least say Troy didn’t get to live his life but through me obviously I can maintain his legacy and his name by living my best life and not wallowing in it and I’m trying to do that,” Mr Slaven said.