Snowtown murders | |
|---|---|
| Criminal charge | Murder(12 counts) |
| Penalty | Bunting: 11 life sentences without parole Wagner: 10 life sentences without parole Vlassakis: four life sentences with 26 year non-parole period Haydon: 25 years with 18 year non-parole period |
| Details | |
| Victims | 12 |
Span of crimes | August 1992 – May 1999 |
| Country | Australia |
| State(s) | South Australia |
Date apprehended | 21 May 1999 |
The Snowtown murders (also known as the bodies in barrels murders) were a series of murders committed by John Justin Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner, and James Spyridon Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in and around Adelaide, South Australia. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted of helping to dispose of the bodies. The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal history.
Most of the bodies were found in barrels in an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown, South Australia, hence the names given in the press for the murders. Only one of the victims was killed in Snowtown itself, which is approximately 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of Adelaide, and neither the twelve victims nor the three perpetrators were from the town. Although the motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that the victims were pedophiles, homosexuals, or "weak". In the case of some victims, the murders were preceded by torture, and efforts were made to appropriate victims' identities, social security payments and bank accounts.
Although initially the notoriety of the murders led to a short-term economic boost from tourists visiting Snowtown, it created a stigma, with authorities considering a change of the town's name and identity. The case has been chronicled in numerous books as well as a film adaptation released in 2011 to critical acclaim.