Snowtown murders

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, which is approximately 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 paedophiles, 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.

Background

Perpetrators

Several individuals were involved in the murders (Bunting, Wagner, and Haydon were all charged with the killings; additionally, Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four murders and provided testimony in exchange for a lesser sentence). There were several other persons who had acted as accomplices in the murders or in the disposal of the bodies:

John Justin Bunting (born 4 September 1966) was found to be the leader of the perpetrators. When he was 8 years old, Bunting was beaten and sexually assaulted by a friend's older brother. He is reported to have "enjoyed weaponry, photography and anatomy," and grew to develop a strong hatred of paedophiles and homosexuals. At age 22, Bunting worked at an abattoir and reportedly "bragged about slaughtering the animals, saying that's what he enjoyed the most". Bunting moved to a house in Salisbury North in 1991 and befriended his neighbours Haydon and Wagner.
Robert Joe Wagner (born 28 November 1971) was befriended by Bunting in 1991. Bunting encouraged Wagner to assist in the various murders. Like Bunting, Wagner was formerly active in several neo-Nazi groups.
James Spyridon Vlassakis (born 24 December 1979), along with his mother and half-brother, lived with Bunting and was gradually drawn into helping with the murders. Vlassakis, 19, helped torture and kill his own half-brother, Troy Youde, and his stepbrother, David Johnson. He confessed in 2001 to four murders, including Johnson's, and became a key witness for the Crown. The detail he provided, supported by other evidence, helped convict Bunting and Wagner. Vlassakis was sentenced in 2002 to a minimum of 26 years and was held in isolation in an unidentified South Australia prison. but this decision was overturned in a subsequent review.
Elizabeth Harvey, Vlassakis' mother, also knew about the murders, and with Bunting's encouragement, assisted in one of them. After Bunting, Wagner, Vlassakis, and Haydon were taken into custody, she died from cancer.
Mark Ray Haydon (born 4 December 1958), an associate of Bunting, was initially the subject of "suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication" and could not therefore be identified as anything other than an alleged perpetrator. A jury deadlocked on the murders of Haydon's wife, Elizabeth, and of Troy Youde.
Jodie Elliott, the sister of Elizabeth, was a woman with below-average intelligence who had become besotted with Bunting. To receive her social security income, she pretended to be Suzanne Allen, a deceased former acquaintance of Bunting's. Frederick Brooks, Elliott's son, was later killed by the group.

Murders

The victims were chosen by Bunting for imagined infractions; some victims were murdered as Bunting suspected them of being paedophiles, based on flimsy evidence or rumours. Others were killed due to his dislike of obese people, drug users, or because they were homosexual. Most of the victims were friends or acquaintances of at least one member of Bunting's group. Some were family members, occasionally sharing a residence with one of the murderers. Some were befriended for a short time and pulled into the group as easy targets for Bunting. was bludgeoned to death with a shovel in Bunting's living room in Salisbury, South Australia after being invited inside for a social visit on 31 August 1992. Bunting accused Trezise of being a paedophile and referred to him in conversations after his murder as "Happy Pants". Trezise was found buried two years after his murder in a shallow grave on 16 August 1994, at Lower Light, South Australia. In 1997, Trezise was the subject of two episodes of the Australian television show Australia's Most Wanted. Bunting watched an episode of the show with Vlassakis and his mother and boasted, "That's my handiwork" and revealed to Vlassakis that he had murdered Trezise while living at Waterloo Corner Road in Salisbury, and that he disposed of Trezise's body in Lower Light with Wagner and Vanessa Lane's assistance.

Ray Allan Peter Davies, 26,
Michelle Gardiner, 19, was a transgender woman who lived in the residence of Nicole Zuritta, a cousin of Wagner's wife. Gardiner presented as female and Bunting referred to her as "the biggest homo". Shortly before her disappearance in September 1997, Gardiner was playing with Wagner's children in her front yard. Gardiner grabbed one of the children and placed her hand over the child's mouth. Wagner saw the incident and became infuriated. Bunting and Wagner took Gardiner to Murray Bridge, South Australia where they strangled her in a shed, forcing her to stand up each time she collapsed. Wagner and Bunting then staged a robbery at Gardiner's home, stealing some of Zuritta's belongings and convincing her that Gardiner had stolen them in order to pay for a gender-affirming surgery. Gardiner's body was kept in a barrel in the shed until it was moved to the Snowtown bank vault before it was found on 20 May 1999. Her right ear was covered by a slip knot in a rope that was wrapped around her neck. Her left foot had been cut off so the drum's lid could be shut.
Vanessa Lane, 42, was Wagner's ex-partner. Lane, a transgender woman, began a relationship with Wagner when the latter was 15 years old. They had been living together for eight years when Lane and Wagner met Bunting upon his move to Salisbury North. Bunting held an open disdain for Lane, who had previously been convicted of child sexual abuse, but nevertheless accepted Lane into his circle of friends because she kept him informed of the activities of local paedophiles. Wagner ended the relationship with Lane in 1996, after which Thomas Eugenio Trevilyan (next victim, see below), with whom Lane had a concurrent relationship, moved in with Lane in April 1997. According to Lane, the killing of Trezise left her traumatised. She told her mother and Bunting's ex-girlfriend about the incident, and when they questioned Bunting about Lane's statements, he confirmed they were accurate. Trevilyan also told Bunting that Lane had been sexually abusing him. On 17 October 1997, Bunting, Wagner and Trevilyan picked up Lane and on orders from Bunting, Lane called and verbally abused her mother, who could hear Trevilyan in the background prompting her with what to say. After telling her mother she was moving to Queensland and wanted nothing further to do with her, she hung up. They tortured Lane for information about her bank accounts, crushing her toe with pliers. Lane was then strangled to death. Bunting assumed control of Lane's vehicle and claimed her welfare payments.
Gavin Allan Porter, Vlassakis's friend, 29, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, for which he had spent many years in mental institutions. Following the death of his mother he moved to Adelaide from Victoria in 1997 where he met Vlassakis and moved in with him. Both Vlassakis and Porter were heroin addicts. After Bunting, Elizabeth Harvey and her children, including Vlassakis, moved to Murray Bridge in late 1997, Porter also moved with them. Bunting referred to Porter as a "waste" who no longer deserved to live. Bunting was pricked by a used syringe Porter had left on the couch in his living room, and decided he should be the next victim. Porter was sleeping in his parked automobile on Bunting's property when Bunting and Wagner attacked him. When Porter awoke, he managed to stab Bunting in the hand with a screwdriver before being overpowered and strangled. Porter's body was displayed to Vlassakis before being put in a barrel for disposal. Porter's body was found on 20 May 1999. On 21 November 1998, Bunting and Wagner arrived at her residence. Her husband and children had gone out for the night. Elizabeth was dragged to her bathroom, tortured, then killed. A rope was left around her neck, and a gag had been taped into her mouth. Purportedly, later that day, when her husband was shown her remains, he laughed. Elizabeth's body was placed in a barrel. On 20 May 1999, Haydon's body was found in the Snowtown bank vault.
David Johnson, 24, was Vlassakis's stepbrother. Bunting did not like Johnson because he was fastidious with his cleanliness and appearance and Bunting frequently referred to him as a "yuppie" and a "faggot". Bunting began talking about "getting" Johnson and suggested that Vlassakis find a way to get him to the bank in Snowtown. On 9 May 1999, Vlassakis told Johnson that there was a computer for sale cheap in Snowtown and he agreed to go with Vlassakis to buy it. He was overpowered as soon as he entered the building. Johnson was the only victim who died in Snowtown and his body was found on 20 May 1999.

Investigation

Initially, the body of Clinton Trezise was found at Lower Light in 1994, For this reason, the murders were dubbed the "bodies in barrels murders". In September 2003, Bunting was convicted of committing eleven murders and Wagner of ten, three of which he had confessed. Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four of the murders. The jury did not come to a decision on two murder charges against Haydon, and another charge of assisting murder, at which the senior prosecutor, Wendy Abraham, indicated that she would seek a retrial on those charges.

Justice Brian Ross Martin determined that Bunting was the ringleader, and sentenced him to 11 consecutive terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of release on parole. Wagner was sentenced to 10 consecutive terms under the same conditions, and at his sentencing, he stated from the dock: "Pedophiles 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." Vlassakis was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences with a non-parole period of 26 years and Haydon was sentenced to 25 years with non-parole period of 18 years. More than 250 suppression orders prevented publication of the details of this case.

Post-trial

In early 2011, a judge lifted the remaining orders in response to a request by the producers of the film Snowtown, a dramatisation depicting the murders and the events leading up to them.

In February 2024, Haydon was granted parole, with authorities citing his "excellent" behaviour in prison. He was released in April and was residing at the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre in Northfield as part of the conditions for his parole. He left the Centre in May 2024.

In August 2025, Vlassakis was granted parole after 26 years in prison,

Aftermath

The notoriety of the murders has led to an economic boost from tourists visiting Snowtown, The Age reported in 2011 that Snowtown would be "forever stigmatised" due to its association with the murders.

Shortly after the discovery of the bodies in Snowtown, the community discussed changing the name to "Rosetown", but no further actions were taken.

The house in Salisbury North where Bunting lived and buried two bodies was demolished by its owner, the South Australian Housing Trust. After holding an open house which raised $700 for charity through charging an entrance fee, the property sold later that year on 27 September for just over $185,000 with the new owners intending to live in the house while running a business from the bank. A plaque was installed to commemorate the victims.

In media

Film

Snowtown, also known as The Snowtown Murders, a feature film based upon the murders, was released in Australia on 19 May 2011.

Television

Crimes That Shook Australia – Series 3 Episode 01: "Snowtown: The Bodies in the Barrels Murders" – 18 February 2018.
Crime Investigation Australia – Series 1 Episode 09: "Snowtown: Bodies in the Barrels" – 2005.

Music

Australian comedian Eddie Perfect wrote a demo song for "Snowtown the Musical" intended to be screened at the 2011 Inside Film Awards that he was hosting. The song was not broadcast.

Jason Whalley and Lindsay McDougall of punk band Frenzal Rhomb formed a short lived acoustic band named Self Righteous Brothers, releasing an album in 2005 containing the song 'There's No Town Like Snowtown'.

Documentaries

City of Evil – Series 1 Episode 02 – 16 September 2018.

Podcasts

Casefile True Crime Podcast – "Case 19: Snowtown" – 14 May 2016.
The Last Podcast on the Left – Episodes 570–572: The SnowTown Murders, Part I–III – 20 April to 11 May 2024.

References

External links

(by the author of the book The Snowtown Murders)
Casefile True Crime Podcast - Case 19: Snowtown – 14 May 2016