Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Snowtown Murders

The "Snowtown"murders (also known as the bodies in barrels murders) werea series of murders committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner andJames Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in and aroundAdelaide, South Australia. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, wasconvicted for helping to dispose of the bodies. The trial was one ofthe longest and most publicized in Australian legal history.

Most of the bodies were found inbarrels in an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown, hence the names givenin the press for the murders. Only one of the victims was killed inSnowtown itself, which is approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles)north of Adelaide, and neither the twelve victims nor the threeperpetrators were from the town. Although motivation for the murdersis unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that thevictims were paedophiles, homosexuals, or "weak". Inthe case of some victims, the murders were preceded by torture, andefforts were made to appropriate victims' identities, social securitypayments and bank accounts.

Although initially the notoriety of themurders led to a short-term economic boost from tourists visitingSnowtown, it created a stigma, with authorities considering a changeof the town's name and identity.

Investigation

Initially, the body of Clinton Trezisewas found at Lower Light in 1994, although no connection to Buntingwas made at this time. Similarly, the death of Thomas Trevilyan in1997 was initially treated as a suicide. It was police inquiries intoElizabeth Haydon's disappearance which eventually led them toSnowtown, and on 20 May 1999, the remains of eight victims were foundby the South Australian Police in six plastic barrels in a disusedbank vault. For this reason, the murders were dubbed the "bodiesin barrels murders".

It is believed that the bodies had beenheld in several locations in South Australia before being moved toSnowtown in 1999. Prosecutors believe that the killers moved thebodies after they became aware of the ongoing police investigation.Two more bodies were found buried in the backyard of Bunting's housein Adelaide. Police later arrested and charged Bunting, Wagner,Vlassakis and Mark Haydon on 21 May 1999 for the murders. At the timeof the arrest, Vlassakis lived in Bunting's home.

Trials and verdicts

The trial of Bunting and Wagner lastedalmost twelve months, the longest in the history of South Australia.In December 2003, Bunting was convicted of committing eleven murders,and Wagner of ten murders, of which he had confessed to only three. Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four of the murders. In 2004, Haydon wasconvicted on five counts of assisting with the murders (of which headmitted to two). The jury did not come to a decision on two murdercharges against Haydon, and another charge of assisting murder, atwhich the senior prosecutor, Wendy Abraham, indicated that she wouldseek a retrial on those charges. The final count against Bunting andWagner—that of murdering Suzanne Allen—was dropped on 7 May 2007,when a jury had been unable to reach a verdict.

Justice Brian Ross Martin determinedthat Bunting was the ringleader, and sentenced him to 11 consecutiveterms of life imprisonment without the possibility of release onparole. Wagner was sentenced to 10 consecutive terms under the sameconditions, and at his sentencing, he stated from the dock:"Paedophiles were doing terrible things to children. Theauthorities didn't do anything about it. I decided to take action. Itook that action. Thank you." Vlassakis was sentenced tofour consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of 26 yearsand Haydon was sentenced to 25 years with non-parole period of 18years.