One of the men responsible for the notorious Snowtown "bodies-in-the-barrels" serial killings has started court action to secure a non-parole date, which could enable him to be released from prison.

Key points: Robert Joe Wagner was convicted of 10 of the murders

Robert Joe Wagner was convicted of 10 of the murders He was sentenced to life in prison without parole

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole He has launched a court application to have a non-parole period set

Robert Joe Wagner was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 2003 for his role in the killings, which were committed during the 1990s.

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, almost 20 years ago in May 1999.

South Australia's Courts Administration Authority has confirmed that Wagner has launched a Supreme Court application to have a non-parole period set, which could pave the way for his eventual release.

Under South Australian law, a prisoner without a parole period can apply to the sentencing court to set one, but the court can decline to do so if it believes it would be inappropriate for reasons including the gravity of the offence.

From 1992 to 1999, Wagner, John Justin Bunting and James Vlassakis murdered 11 people between them.

Wagner and Bunting knew their victims personally and, during sentencing, Justice Brian Martin said the pair's crimes were characterised by brutality, depravity and cowardice.

"I cannot make an order that you are never to be released," Justice Martin said in 2003.

"If I had the power to make an order that you are never to be released, I would unhesitatingly make that order."

In 1999, police found eight bodies in barrels in a disused bank vault in Snowtown. ( ABC TV )

Prosecutors had alleged there was a 12th victim, but that charge was dropped.

At trial the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether Bunting and Wagner had murdered Suzanne Allen, whose dismembered body was found buried in 11 garbage bags in the backyard of Bunting's former Salisbury North home.

Bunting was the ringleader and was convicted of all 11 murders. He is also serving multiple life sentences without parole.

It was revealed in 2017 that Mark Ray Haydon — who was not convicted of murder but was convicted of seven counts of assisting the other three men to dispose of the bodies — was seeking parole.

Cannibalism claims made during trial

The Snowtown trial was one of the biggest and longest in South Australian legal history, running for 11 months, hearing from 227 witnesses and costing about $15 million.

Wagner was convicted of 10 of the murders, and the trial heard gruesome detail about his crimes, including that he and Bunting had cooked the flesh of one of the victims.

John Bunting was the ringleader and was convicted of 11 killings. ( ABC TV )

The smell from inside the Snowtown vault was so bad that police needed breathing gear.

More than 200 suppression orders were imposed during the case and a record number of victim impact statements were presented to the court.

Justice Martin also took the unprecedented step of directing a jury not to listen to a piece of music by American band Live.

After sentencing, Marcus Johnson, the father of victim David Johnson, said it was totally unacceptable that the judge could not ensure the killers remained in jail for life.

Some of the men's victims were killed because they knew too much about the crimes.

Some were tortured and made to grovel before being killed.

Others were dismembered afterwards.

The building where the bodies were found is no longer a bank. ( Facebook: Michael Margot )

Wagner and Bunting benefited financially from their crimes by claiming the social security benefits of some of their victims.

They forced some of their victims to record phrases on tape before they were killed.

Those recordings were played over the telephone to concerned relatives and friends in an attempt to convince them the person was still alive.

Bunting and Wagner often boasted and laughed about what they had done, and kept their victim's belongings and paperwork in their homes and cars.