Snowtown Murders

The Snowtown murders (also known as the Bodies-in-Barrels murders) were a series of homicides that took place in South Australia between August 1992 and May 1999. The crimes were uncovered on 20 May 1999, when the remains of eight victims were found in barrels of acid in a rented former bank building. "Snowtown" was the town where the bodies were found, although most of the bodies had only been moved there in the final months of the crime spree. Only one of the eleven victims was killed there. Neither the victims nor the perpetrators were from Snowtown.

The bodies were first held in several locations in South Australia. They were moved to Snowtown in early 1999 after the accused became aware that police were investigating. Eight bodies were found in six plastic barrels in a disused bank vault. Two bodies were found three days later, buried in a backyard in the Adelaide suburb of Salisbury North. By the end of June, nine of the 10 victims had been identified. The discoveries followed a lengthy, covert criminal investigation by South Australian Police. During the investigation, two deaths already known to authorities were determined to have been perpetrated by the same murderers. A twelfth charge relating to the death of Suzanne Allen was dropped due to lack of evidence.

Four men were arrested and charged. Three were convicted of murder and given life sentences; the fourth was convicted of assisting. The court decided that John Justin Bunting was the ringleader of the conspiracy. More than 250 suppression orders prevented publication of the details of this case. In early 2011, a judge lifted the remaining orders in response to a request by the producers of the film Snowtown, a dramatization of the murders.