This case is one of the most heinous that shocked Australia and the world. The regional South Australian town of Snowtown is considering a name change following one of the state’s darkest crime and Adelaide is still struggling with reputation.
John Justin Bunting (4 September 1966 in Inala, Queensland) is an Australian serial killer from Adelaide, South Australia, currently serving eleven consecutive sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for his role in the murder of 11 victims of the Snowtown murders. Murders occurred between 1992 and 1999. Bunting was tried together with Robert Wagner. On 8 September 2003, Bunting was found guilty and convicted on September 8, 2003. He was Australia’s most prolific serial killer.
Bunting was the ringleader of a “degenerate sub-culture” of murderers whose victims were people they already knew. Under the instruction of Bunting, the group would prey upon the weak so they could steal their welfare payments.
Bunting hated pedophiles and homosexuals and had fashioned a “rock spider wall” on a wall of a spare room in his house. The chart, created using paper notes and wool, was an interconnected web of names of people Bunting suspected to be pedophiles or homosexuals. At times Bunting would randomly select a name from the wall and call them, insinuating they were pedophiles. Two of his victims were found in the backyard of his former home in Waterloo Corner Road, Salisbury North, a northern suburb of Adelaide, with the remaining eight discovered in a vault of a disused bank rented by Bunting and Haydon in Snowtown, South Australia, 140 km north of Adelaide.
Bunting was married to Elizabeth Harvey, mother of co-offender James Vlassakis. Bunting spent a lot of time with Vlassakis, assuming the role of a father figure, allegedly. Vlassakis later gave evidence against Bunting, Wagner, and Haydon at their criminal trials. Elizabeth Harvey has since died of cancer.
Bunting met Wagner when he moved to Waterloo Corner Road. Wagner was living with Barry Lane at the time; both men assisted Bunting in disposing of the body of his first victim, Clinton Trezise. Wagner later assisted Bunting in the remaining ten murders.
Bunting’s murder spree began in August 1992, with the murder of Clinton Trezise, 22. Trezise was bashed to death with a shovel in Bunting’s living room after being invited inside for a social visit. Bunting accused Tresize of being a pedophile 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. It was another three years before Bunting murdered again. Bunting boasted to Vlassakis that he had murdered Trezise.
Ray Davies was an intellectually disabled man who lived in a caravan behind the house of Suzanne Allen in Salisbury North. Davies, a former lover of Allen, became a target for murder after Allen accused him of making sexual advances to her grandsons.
Davies was murdered by Bunting and Wagner in December 1995 and was never reported missing. Bunting and Wagner were later seen cleaning Davies’ caravan. They moved it to a house in nearby Elizabeth, where it was painted and sold two months after Davies’ murder. Bunting continued to claim Davies’ welfare payments.
Davies’ body was later recovered by police buried in the backyard at the former home of Bunting in Waterloo Corner Road, Salisbury North.
Michael Gardiner was an openly gay man murdered by Bunting and Wagner in August 1997. Gardiner shared a house with friends nearby.
Bunting often referred to Barry Lane as being “dirty” and as a pedophile. Robert Wagner was in a relationship with Barry Lane from 1985 until 1996, future victim and once member of the gang. The pair shared a house in Bingham Road, Salisbury North near the home of Bunting. Robert Wagner did not like Gardiner hypocritically due to his open homosexuality. Gardiner’s body was found by police stored in one of six drums in the bank vault in Snowtown. One of Gardiner’s feet had been removed so the lid of the drum could be closed.
Barry Lane was an open homosexual and crossdresser. Lane He was last seen alive in October 1997. Lane’s dismembered body was found by police in a drum in the bank vault in Snowtown, along with the body of Michael Gardiner.
After Gardiner’s murder, Bunting had Frederick Brooks call friends of Gardiner and impersonate him. Brooks demanded from them belongings such as Gardiner’s wallet, saying Gardiner required it for identification purposes. Bunting wanted it to gain access to Gardiner’s personal funds.
On the day of his murder, Lane was forced by Bunting to call his mother; he told her he would be moving to Queensland and that he wanted nothing further to do with her.
Barry Lane had assisted Bunting to conceal Tresize’s body. After Lane’s murder, Bunting assumed control of Lane’s vehicle and claimed his welfare payments.
Thomas Trevilyan was described as having psychiatric problems. He shared a house with Barry Lane for a period of five months from April to October 1997. Trevilyan had assisted Bunting and Wagner in the earlier murder of Barry Lane. Bunting murdered Trevilyan after finding out he told others of his involvement in Lane’s murder.
Bunting told others that Trevilyan had started to “fuck up” and “go mental” and that he would be a risk. Trevilyan was driven to Kersbrook in the Adelaide Hills by Bunting and Wagner. He was forced to stand on a box while a noose was fastened around his neck and the box kicked from under him.
Trevilyan’s body was found on 5 November 1997. Police initially treated Trevilyan’s death as a suicide.
Gavin Porter, 31, was a friend of Vlassakis’ from Victoria. He moved into the house shared by Bunting and Vlassakis in 1988. Bunting referred to Porter, a heroin addict, as a “waste” who no longer deserved to live. Bunting was angered after being pricked by a used syringe discarded by Porter on the sofa. Porter was murdered by Bunting and Wagner while sleeping in his car in the driveway of Bunting’s house after working on his car. Porter’s body was stored in a barrel before being moved to Snowtown.
Troy Youde was a half-brother of Vlassakis. Vlassakis had earlier confided to Bunting that Youde had molested him when younger. In August 1998, Bunting, Wagner, Vlassakis, and Haydon visited Youde. Bunting, Wagner and Vlassakis dragged him from his bed and murdered him. Youde’s body was dismembered and stored in a barrel and later moved to Snowtown.
Frederick Brooks was the intellectually disabled man. He was murdered by Bunting, Wagner, and Vlassakis on 17 September 1998. Brooks’ body was moved to a car which was later collected by Mark Haydon. Mark Haydon continued to access the welfare payments of Brooks. The body was later located by police in the disused bank vault in Snowtown.
Gary O’Dwyer, 29, was an intellectually disabled man who lived alone in Frances Street, Murray Bridge. His disabilities arose from a car accident earlier in life. Bunting had Vlassakis learn personal information about O’Dwyer and whether he had any family. O’Dwyer was seen by Bunting as an easy target and murdered so Bunting could gain from O’Dwyer’s welfare payments.
O’Dwyer’s body was found by police in the bank vault in Snowtown. His body contained burn marks which were inflicted by using a variac machine to apply electric shocks.
Elizabeth Haydon was the wife of Mark Haydon, and shared a house with him at Blackham Crescent, Smithfield Plains, a northern suburb of Adelaide. Elizabeth’s sister, Jodie Elliot, who had a brief relationship with Bunting in 1998, lived at the rear of the Haydons’ house. Elizabeth was Bunting and Wagner’s second-to-last murder victim and the only female victim.
Elizabeth was murdered on 20 November 1998 while Haydon and Elliot were away from the house. Haydon would later assist in concealing his wife’s murder.
The investigation began to take shape after Elizabeth Haydon’s brother reported her missing within days of her disappearance. Her brother did not believe her husband Mark Haydon’s explanations for her disappearance, which seemed to contradict each other in varying versions he gave, and the brother also did not believe she would leave without her two young sons. Police found it suspicious that her husband had not reported her missing, and investigated her disappearance. Elizabeth Haydon was closely affiliated with all of the murderers, so they all fell under close scrutiny once police started their investigations.
The discovery that Trezise and Lane had known each other was one of the first clues in the police discovering that there was more than a routine missing person investigation.
The crimes were uncovered when the remains of eight victims were found in barrels of acid located in a rented former bank building in Snowtown, South Australia on 20 May 1999. The killers had chosen hydrochloric acid which mummified the remains. His crimes led to the longest and most expensive investigations and criminal trials in South Australia’s history. The discovery of the barrels in May 1999 in Snowtown was the culmination of five years of criminal investigation. Police involvement with the then unlinked crimes had begun with the discovery of human remains at Lower Light. After Elizabeth Haydon’s disappearance, the police installed a listening device in Mark Haydon’s house in Smithfield Plains, recordings from which were later used as court evidence.
But there had been one more victim before they were arrested.
Johnson was lured to the disused bank in Snowtown by his stepbrother, James Vlassakis, on 9 May 1999. Johnson was not homosexual, but Bunting would often refer to him as a “faggot” and say he needed to die. Vlassakis had earlier told Johnson about a computer for sale near Clare, South Australia. Vlassakis drove him to Snowton to ostensibly look at this computer. Shortly after Johnson entered the bank building, he was grabbed by Wagner around the throat and strangled. Wagner then applied handcuffs to Johnson and he was forced by Bunting to read a script Bunting had earlier prepared, as well as provide his bank account PIN. Johnson’s voice was recorded on a computer equipped with a microphone. Wagner and Vlassakis drove to Port Wakefield and attempted to access Johnson’s bank account, leaving Bunting and Haydon with Johnson in the disused bank. Wagner and Vlassakis were unsuccessful in withdrawing funds from Johnson’s account. When they returned to Snowtown, Johnson was dead.
Bunting and Wagner dismembered Johnson’s body, then fried and ate parts of his flesh.
Bunting insisted on playing the 1994 Live album Throwing Copper during many of his later murders.
Police arrested Bunting, Wagner, Vlassakis, and Elizabeth’s husband, Mark Haydon for the murders.
The remains of Suzanne Allen were found buried at Bunting’s house at Salisbury North, wrapped in 11 different plastic bags. Her death was concealed by the accused and they continued to collect her pension, claiming a total of $17,000. They claimed she had died of a heart attack. Murder charges regarding the death of Suzanne Allen were eventually dropped by the prosecution due to lack of evidence.
A total of four people were arrested and charged over the murders. All were convicted of the murders or assisting in the murders. Mark Ray Haydon was not convicted of any of the murders, but pleaded guilty to helping the serial killers dispose of the bodies. Vlassakis later became the Crown’s star witness, because prosecutor had a problem to convict them all.
| Clinton Trezise, 22 (d. Aug 1992) was found buried in a shallow grave in 1994 at Lower Light. Was killed in Bunting’s living room at his home in Salisbury North, by being bashed with a shovel after being invited in for a social visit. |
| Ray Davies, 26 (d. Dec 1995), a mentally handicapped man who lived in a caravan in the back yard behind Suzanne Allen’s house who became a target after her accusation that he was a pedophile. Harvey assisted in his torture. Davies was never reported missing. |
| Suzanne Allen, 47. Allen was a friend of Bunting’s. She died some time after Davies, and her remains were found buried above his in the garden of the house at Salisbury North. Her remains were wrapped in eleven different plastic bags. Her death was concealed by the accused and they continued to collect her pension, but they later claimed she had actually died of a heart attack. Based on the evidence presented at trial, the jury was unable to decide without doubt that she had been murdered. |
| Michael Gardiner, 19 (d. Aug 1997) an openly gay man murdered after a suspicion arose that he was also a pedophile. |
| Barry Lane, 42 (d. Oct 1997), a gay man and cross dresser who had been in a relationship with Wagner at the time Bunting first met them in 1991 when he moved to their neighborhood. Trevilyan was a later boyfriend of Lane’s. Lane had been tortured by having his toes crushed with pliers. |
| Thomas Trevilyan, 18 (d. 1997) was found hanging from a tree near Kersbrook in the Adelaide Hills, and was initially presumed to have committed suicide. He had helped in the murder of Barry Lane, but was later killed after discussing the crime with others. He was known to his family to have suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was easily persuaded. |
| Gavin Porter, 29 (d. Apr 1998), a heroin addict and friend of Vlassakis. After Bunting, Elizabeth Harvey, Vlassakis, and Youde moved to Murray Bridge, South Australia, Porter also moved in. Bunting decided he should be the next victim after he was pricked by a discarded syringe Porter left on the couch in the living room. Porter was strangled in his car parked on the property. |
| Troy Youde, 21 (d. Sep 1998), Vlassakis’ half-brother and son of Elizabeth Harvey who was living with them at Bunting’s Murray Bridge house at the time of his death. He was killed in the house after being dragged from his bed while asleep. This was the first murder Vlassakis participated in. |
| Fred Brooks, 18 (d. Sep 1998). The intellectually disabled son of Jodie Elliott, a woman in love with Bunting, was chosen by Bunting as an easy victim and lured to his house where he was attacked and brutally tortured. |
| Gary O’Dwyer, 29 (d. Nov 1998), man disabled in an earlier car accident and on a pension, O’Dwyer was a stranger, picked as an easy target. Was killed in his home in Frances Street, Murray Bridge, by Bunting, Wagner and Vlassakis. |
| Elizabeth Haydon, 37 (d. Nov 1998), Mark Haydon’s wife, killed by Bunting and Wagner in her home while her husband was out. |
| David Johnson, 24 (d. May 1999) Vlassakis’ half-brother. Murdered by Bunting in the bank building having been lured there by Vlassakis. He was the only victim to have died in Snowtown. |
This group was largely influenced by ringleader John Justin Bunting. Much detail was not made public with the cases having been subject to over 250 suppression orders, many of which have not yet been lifted.
Though Snowtown is frequently linked with the crimes, the bodies had been held in a series of locations around Adelaide for some time, and were moved to Snowtown in early 1999, very late in the crime spree that had spanned several years. Only one victim was killed in Snowtown; none of the victims or the perpetrators were from that town.
Bunting has been described as a skilled manipulator and “Australia’s worst serial killer”. He is considered to have been the central figure throughout all of the killings and torture and the one whose personality provided motivation for the other perpetrators. While psychological reports are not available to the public, it has been suggested by forensic psychiatrist Professor Kevin Howells, who has worked at Broadmoor Hospital in the United Kingdom, that Bunting’s behavior suggested he lacks emotion and the capacity to empathize with his victims. Howells believes Bunting fits the profile of a psychopathic killer who derives satisfaction from controlling his victims. When he was young, his favorite time was burning insects in acid, and during his teenage years he was a neo-Nazi. During adulthood Bunting developed a deep hatred of pedophiles and homosexuals.
Films inspired by events
In March 2010, Screen Australia announced funding support for Snowtown, a true crime film based on the murders. The film was to be produced by Warp Films Australia. It would be the first full length feature directed by Justin Kurzel.
Although a total of $97,200 was obtained in this manner, social security fraud was not judged to have been the primary motive for the killings.
The final murder was conducted in the bank building after the barrels had been moved there for storage. Of the scene encountered in this building, one Snowtown officer said: “It was a scene from the worst nightmare you’ve ever had, I don’t think any of us was prepared for what we saw.” The building was littered with tools used by the killers to torture and murder their victims. Variac metallurgy tool that the killers used to administer electric shocks to the genitals and other sensitive parts of the victim’s body.
The pathologists report later revealed that prolonged torture had taken place using everyday tools such as pincers, pliers and clamps — examples of all of these were found in the vault. Ray Davies was garroted with a piece of rope and a tyre lever after being placed in a bath, attacked with clubs, repeatedly beaten about his genitals and having a toe crushed with a pair of pliers. Frederick Brooks received electric shocks to his penis and testicles, and had a burning sparkler pushed down into his penis; after his toes were crushed and his nose and ears burned with cigarettes, he was allowed to choke to death on his gag. A piece of the flesh of the eleventh and final victim, David Johnson, was fried and eaten by Bunting and Wagner.
Wendy Abraham QC, the deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, reported at the Supreme Court of South Australia that the victims were forced to call their torturers ‘God’, ‘Master’, ‘Chief Inspector’ and ‘Lord Sir’.
Brian Martin, stated that the men were “in the business of killing for pleasure” and were also “incapable of true rehabilitation”. This is sadism. Bunting and others are sadists, among all other things. Sadistic nature of this crime makes it shockingly evil.
Mark Haydon
Wagner, 47, represented himself before the South Australian Supreme Court in March 2019 as he argued that having a possible release date would assist with his mental wellbeing.
Justice Greg Parker on Thursday dismissed the application in a hearing lasting about 10 seconds.
In his ruling, Justice Parker said the bodies-in-the-barrels murders were “the worst crimes ever to be detected in South Australia”. “The 10 murders, when considered in combination, amount to the worst possible type of offending,” he said. Wagner’s application had previously been opposed by prosecutors and the relatives of his victims. Prosecutor Carmen Matteo said Wagner’s crimes were “of unparalleled seriousness” and yesterday urged the court to dismiss his application. While South Australian victims’ rights commissioner Bronwyn Killmier told the court Wagner’s request was “a slap in the face” for families affected.
What do we know about Bunting?
| John Justin Bunting Information researched and summarized by Jessica Heckel, Tracy Drum, & Karoline Gravitt Department of Psychology Radford University Radford. |
| Birth category: only child. |
| Family event: None |
| Physical defect? He has no sense of smell when he was born. |
| Speech defect? No |
| Head injury? No |
| Physically abused? Yes; around 8 years old by friend’s older brother. |
| Psychologically abused? Yes; by his friend’s older brother. |
| Sexually abused? Yes; around 8 years old by friend’s older brother. |
| Raised by both parents: Tom and Jan Bunting. |
| Animal torture: Yes; during childhood Bunting tortured ants with acid. |
| Age 15, when first had intercourse and got her pregnant. |
| As a teen he enjoyed weaponry, photography, and anatomy. |
| As a young adult he felt strong hatred towards homosexuals and pedophiles. He was a Neo-Nazi. |
| Age 20, he had a job at a crematorium. |
| Age 22, he worked at SA Meat Corporation. He would brag about slaughtering the animals – saying that’s what he enjoyed the most. |
| Served in the military? No |
| Applied for job as a cop? No |
| Fired from jobs? Yes, but only because they couldn’t afford to pay him at the crematorium. They thought he was a good worker. |
| Age 23, Bunting began taking a class for metal work. |
| Age 23, met Veronika Tripp during this time. Tripp and Bunting got married. |
| Age 28, he was in a sexual relationship with Elizabeth Harvy while still married to Veronika Tripp. During this year Bunting killed cats and dogs and skinned them. He got James, his step-son to watch. |
| Marital status: Veronika Tripp, First marriage in 1989; Elizabeth Harvey: Second marriage. |
| Number of children: Four step-sons: Troy Youde, James Vlassakis, Adrian Vlassakis, and Kristoffer Vlassakis. |
| Employment status during killings: None, because he was stealing money from his victims after their death. |
| Killer Criminal History Committed, previous crimes? No, tortured animals. |
| Spend time in jail? No |
| Spend time in prison? No |
| Killed prior to series? No |
| Victim type: imaginary or real pedophiles, homosexuals, cross dresser, heroin user and roommate, partners assisting in the crimes, mentally disabled, and some were relatives or associates of one of the accused. He did kill a woman and mutilated her. Probably two women. |
| Type of serial killer: Lust and Killer |
| Type of killer: Thrill Killer |
| Method of killing: Prolong torture |
| Tortured victims? Yes; giving electric shocks to sensitive parts (generally genitals) of the body, crushing toes with pliers, ears and nose burned with cigarettes, and one victim even had a sparkler inserted into his genitals and lit. After being tortured the victims were strangled and to make sure they were dead, someone would jump on their chest to get all of the remaining air out. |
| Weapon, knives, coils of rope, rolls of tape, rubber gloves, cloths, a variac metallurgy tool that the killers used to give electric shocks to the genitals and other sensitive parts. |
| Was gun used? No |
| Did killer have a partner? Yes; Bunting was the leader of three other men. |
| After Death Behavior, Sex with the body? No |
| Mutilated body? Yes; almost all of the victims’ bodies were cut up with a knife and eight of them were placed in a barrel containing acid. |
| Ate part of the body? Bunting and Wagner fried up and ate parts of David Johnson’s flesh. |
| Drank victim’s blood? No |
| Posed the body? No |
| Did serial killer confess? Yes, but Bunting confessed after conviction (confessed & recanted). |
| Some of his childhood and family relations i.e. Parent’s occupation is unknown. |
| We could not find anything on Bunting’ psychological information; there was nothing mentioned about previous crimes, but we don’t know if there just was not any information about it. |
| Location of killings were not found for Barry Lane and Garry O’Dwyer. |
| We were not able to find the dates of the murders of Gavin Porter, Gary O’Dwyer. |
