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The Snowtown murders (also known as the bodies-in-barrels murders〔) were a series of homicides committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner, and James Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999 in South Australia. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted for helping to dispose of the bodies. The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal history. Only one of the victims was killed in Snowtown, which is approximately north of Adelaide, and none of the eleven victims nor the perpetrators were from the town. Though motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals or "weak". In at least some instances, the murders were preceded by torture, and efforts were made to appropriate victims' Centrelink social security payments and bank funds. Although initially the notoriety of the murders led to a short-term economic boost from tourists visiting Snowtown,〔it created a lasting stigma, with authorities considering a change of the town's name and identity.〔 ==Perpetrators== Several individuals were involved in the murders: John Bunting, Robert Wagner, and James Vlassakis were all charged with the killings; additionally, Mark Haydon pleaded guilty and provided testimony in exchange for a lesser sentence. John Justin Bunting (born 4 September 1966 in Inala, Queensland) was found to be the leader of the perpetrators. When Bunting was 8 years old, he was beaten and sexually assaulted by a friend's older brother. As a teenager, he is reported to have "enjoyed weaponry, photography and anatomy". As a young adult, he developed a strong hatred of paedophiles and homosexuals. At age 22, he 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, South Australia in 1991, and there he befriended his neighbours Mark Haydon, Robert Wagner and his girlfriend Vanessa Laney. In 1991, Bunting befriended Robert Joe Wagner (born 28 November 1971 in Parramatta, New South Wales). Bunting encouraged Wagner to assist in the various murders.〔 James Spyridon Vlassakis, along with his mother and half-brother, lived with Bunting and was gradually drawn into helping with the murders and torture. Vlassakis, 23, helped torture and kill his own half-brother, Troy Youde, and his stepbrother David Johnson. Vlassakis, 23, confessed in 2001 to four murders including that of his stepbrother, David Johnson. Johnson came to Bunting's attention because his former stepmother, who was also the mother of Vlassakis, had moved in with Bunting. Vlassakis became a key witness for the Crown and 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 is held in isolation in an unidentified SA prison.〔 Mark Ray Haydon, an associate of Bunting, is the subject of "suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication" and cannot therefore be identified as anything other than an alleged perpetrator. In January 1999, he reportedly rented the abandoned State Bank building at Snowtown.〔〔 A jury deadlocked on initial murder charges against Haydon,〔 which were not proceeded with when Haydon pleaded guilty to helping the serial killers dispose of the bodies of his wife Elizabeth and Troy Youde.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snowtown murders」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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