John Bunting: The ringleader behind the Snowtown murders
Bodies In The BarrelsThe Bodies in the Barrels crime is one of the most, if not the absolute most, notorious serial killing cases in Australia’s history.
After a series of disappearances, an investigation began that led the South Australian Police Force to the small town of Snowtown. What they found was more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Located in an abandoned bank vault were six plastic barrels containing the bodies of eight murder victims.
Crime+Investigation’s upcoming show, Bodies In The Barrels, will delve deeper into the harrowing case from Sunday, 3rd August 2025. For now, though, we’re going to be looking at John Bunting, the ringleader of the eight-year crime spree that shook Australia and the world.
The early life of John Bunting
John Justin Bunting was born on 4th September in Inala, Queensland, Australia, to parents Jan and Tom Bunting. Interestingly enough, he was born without a sense of smell.
Despite being described as charming and friendly when young, he reportedly displayed violent signs, even at an early age. This may have stemmed from an assault that he suffered at eight years old. He was sexually assaulted and beaten by a friend of his older brother. However, it is unclear whether Bunting’s violent tendencies started before this attack.
Bunting reportedly had a fascination with weaponry, anatomy and photography as well as a hatred of homosexuals and paedophiles. In 1988, Bunting began working at SA Meat Corporation in the abattoir. He seemed to enjoy slaughtering animals for work. Bunting often bragged about it, telling those he knew that it was the part of the job he liked the most.
In the same year, Bunting moved in with a friend called Kevin Reid and Kevin’s girlfriend. Bunting went on to kill the terrier bulldog that the couple owned. As he got older, he would continue this animal abuse, killing and skinning various cats and dogs.
Forming the serial killer group
In 1989, Bunting met a woman named Veronika Tripp, whom he went on to marry. In 1991, Bunting and Tripp moved to 203 Waterloo Corner Road in Salisbury North. While living there, he became friends with Robert Joe Wagner and Mark Ray Haydon, who were his neighbours.
By 1994, Bunting began a relationship with a woman named Elizabeth Harvey while still with Veronika. It was then that he met his final accomplice: James Vlassakis. Vlassakis was the son of Harvey, and he became an adopted son of sorts to Bunting as well as one of his partners in crime.
At this point, Bunting had already murdered one of his victims, Clinton Trezise, who was killed in 1992. Vlassakis played a part in the many deaths that followed. Elizabeth Harvey and her sister, Jodie Elliot, also had a role in the serial killings.
The murders
With Bunting leading the group, he, Wagner, and Vlassakis went on to murder at least 11 victims, though it is thought that there could be more.
The victims were specifically chosen by Bunting. He picked them based on a general dislike or personal suspicions of paedophilia or homosexuality. He also targeted transgender people, the disabled, and those whom he considered 'weak'.
The confirmed victims are as follows:
- Clinton Trezise: age 20.
- Ray Davies: age 26.
- Michelle Gardiner: age 19
- Vanessa Lane: age 42.
- Suzanne Allen: age 47
- Thomas Trevilyan: age 18.
- Troy Youde: age 21
- Frederick Brooks: age 18.
- Elizabeth Haydon: age 37
- David Johnson: age 24.
- Gavin Porter: age 29.
- Gary O’Dwyer: age 29.
Many of the victims were horrifically tortured before they were killed. Some of the methods that Bunting was particularly fond of included crushing their toes with pliers, shocking their body parts, and burning them with cigarettes.
Once the victims were dead, their bodies were mutilated with a knife and cut into pieces before they were stuffed into barrels filled with acid. The barrels were left in Snowtown in an abandoned bank vault, where they would not be found until May 1999. As well as this, some bodies were also buried in Salisbury North in a backyard.
The conviction
Bunting's trial was one of the longest in South Australian crime history, lasting almost a year. He was convicted of 11 murders and was sentenced to 11 consecutive life imprisonment terms with no parole possibility.
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