#PSYCHOPATHIC VAULT TRIAL#
#PSYCHOPATHIC VAULT SERIES#

He confessed in 2001 to four murders, including Johnson's, and became a key witness for the Crown. Vlassakis, 23, helped torture and kill his own half-brother, Troy Youde, and his stepbrother, David Johnson. James ' Jamie' Spyridon Vlassakis (born December 24, 1979), along with his mother and half-brother, lived with Bunting and was gradually drawn into helping with the murders.Bunting encouraged Wagner to assist in the various murders. Robert Joe Wagner (born November 28, 1971, in Parramatta, New South Wales) was befriended by Bunting in 1991.: 1 Bunting moved to a house in Salisbury North, South Australia in 1991 and befriended his neighbours Mark Haydon and Robert Wagner. At age 22, Bunting worked at an abattoir and reportedly 'bragged about slaughtering the animals, saying that's what he enjoyed the most'. He is reported to have 'enjoyed weaponry, photography and anatomy,' and grew to develop a strong hatred of paedophiles and homosexuals. When he was 8-years-old, Bunting was beaten and sexually assaulted by a friend's older brother. John Justin Bunting (born September 4, 1966, in Inala, Queensland) was found to be the leader of the perpetrators.There were several other persons who had acted as accomplices in the murders or in the disposal of the bodies: John Bunting, Robert Wagner and Mark Haydon were all charged with the killings additionally, James Vlassakis pleaded guilty to four murders and provided testimony in exchange for a lesser sentence. Several individuals were involved in the murders. The case has been chronicled in numerous books as well as a film adaptation released in 2011 to critical acclaim.īackground Perpetrators 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.Īlthough 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.

Although motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals, or 'weak'. Only one of the victims was killed in Snowtown itself, which is approximately 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of Adelaide, and neither the twelve victims nor the three perpetrators were from the town. 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.

#PSYCHOPATHIC VAULT TRIAL#

The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal history. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted for helping to dispose of the bodies.

#PSYCHOPATHIC VAULT SERIES#

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.

Psychopathic vault