Snowtown murders: 21 years on from Australia’s worst serial killings | ABC News
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- Twenty-one years ago, a gang of serial killers put Snowtown on the map.
The discovery of their victims’ bodies in a disused bank vault, in barrels of acid, left a stain on the town forever.
The crimes now known as the "Snowtown murders", or the "bodies-in-the-barrels murders", remain one of the nation's worst serial killings.
But for two decades, Snowtown has suffered because it was the end point of events which began many miles away.
In the early '90s John Bunting, who was living in Salisbury North in Adelaide's underprivileged northern suburbs, met Robert Wagner, who was born in Parramatta.
Both men were the product of deeply disturbing upbringings.
From 1992 to 1999 they unleashed a campaign of torturous violence, recruiting two others - James Vlassakis and Mark Haydon - to assist their cause.
Allegedly driven by a hatred of paedophiles and homosexuals, their victims were mostly people the perpetrators themselves associated with, including family members.
People with intellectual disabilities and welfare recipients were also killed for financial gain.
Twelve deaths were linked to the case, 11 of which were deemed murders.
The killings were characterised by extreme sadism, with the perpetrators using various tools to torture their victims before killing them. In one instance, it descended into cannibalism.
This is the story of the town of Snowtown, 20 years after the discovery of the murders.
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What concerns me is that very little has been said about the victims other than sensationalising their pasts. If I was living in Snowtown, I'd advocate for a memorial to the victims to be constructed after demolishing the building.
Come on. They don't even belong there.
Brad Griffin my dads cousin basically like a brother to my dad because they grew up together, my dads cousin was a victim his name was Garry, we were talking about it earlier
@@ameishalose4855 sorry for his loss and this horrific history.
@@ameishalose4855 sorry for your loss.
I've hird about other killers from dis area who got a taste of blood after watching this as children there adults and dangerous now and numbers of locals but normally our of towners aint being hird from after coming to south Oz, very dangerous place, just be carefully of wally he not easy to find‽
It’s kind of crazy that the bank hasn’t been demolished.
Don’t get me wrong, I get the unfair labelling of Snowtown but I’m not really sure how the town is “suffering” because of it?
I grew up in the region and it was certainly no booming, bustling town that I can remember and see no reason why it ever would be irrespective of this tragedy (I mean no offence by that simply stating truths about the majority of Australian rural towns).
The only one thing I feel has changed is that Snowtown is now a name that everyone in Australia knows, but before this horrid disaster no one outside of the region had ever heard of.
To me Snowtown was and still is a quaint little town in the middle of farmland that very few people take the time to pass through and even fewer people live in.
I don’t believe anything outside of a now infamous name has changed at all, has it?
If anything the infamy brings people to the town, and many will spend money there too stretching their legs.
Perhaps the bank should be turned into a museum of sorts, in a simal way to euroa.
Well the people of Snowtown talk as if they were the victims. They seemed to have absolutely no empathy for the real victims. Just "offended" that they were dragged down.
"come to snowtown, you'll have barrels of fun"
What’s sad is one of the victims was my great uncle 😩 the photo of Garry o’Dwyer is my family member I actually can’t believe it
My condolences
Sorry
His death was 1 of the most horrific
OMG.
I took a friend from Canada to see the building about 2 years ago now and he is a very empathetic person and had heard about it all on the news there. I think visiting with the intention of remembering the 11 (12 alleged but one was never proven in court) horrific deaths that occurred at the hands of 4 evil people in this state is an honourable, to do.
Snowtown people are truly wonderful, salt of the earth and hard working people and it's sad that their town became mainly only associated with the murders.
Most of the murders actually occurred at the former house in Waterloo Corner Road, Salisbury North and it was the subsequent bodies stored in the barrels that were then moved to the bank vault in the small town.
The media falsely portrayed it as if this horror happened "entirely" in Snowtown. It's time the old bank was bought by government and knocked down with a memorial garden established for the victims on the site. May they rest in peace.
Is it still there
The Problem here is that, even though your friend was respecting the victim’s, you still went there.
You still participated in the novelty of the story.
@@thenewsone9276 yes it is.
Why the heck they still keep the bank?
Fun fact, there are 6 Barrels at the front of the bar
I can't recall the number of times ive driven to and from adelaide and never once have stopped in snowtown cos this story
If I were to be perfectly honest, this is the reason I'll probably never visit South Australia for as long as I live.
Because of a murders that happened 20 years ago.
Wtf? Are you some kind of judgemental prick. Wouldn't want you as a mate. Really reasonable mature attitude to life you have.
You sound also incapable of forgiveness.
Hello friend. I thought that myself, but there are sick, sadistic predators like these lurking in every State. They just need a trigger and it could happen again, ANYWHERE. (I'm a West Aussie by the way, so no bias.. 😉). ✌
I have lived in SA for 34 yrs I am still alive, but I did know one of the victims.
You know NSW is probably worser then SA like in the news some in Sydney is stabbed everyday
Freelance opportunist that’s pretty weird
I don't understand.
Why would a town suffer who didn't really have anything to do with the murders.
Why would anyone other then the murderers suffer. Or why should anyone other then the murderers suffer. Their family had nothing to do with it.
Are we as a nation treating people guilty by association. Or just always reminding them about a past they had no control over. Surely we as a nation are more mature then that.
Victim mentality. The people of Snowtown think they were the victims.
*’other than’ & ‘than that’, not then. Why do people keep making this basic mistake …?
Snowtown gets the blame while Salisbury is playing innocent lol
the worse part for me was my late father happened to be the doctor of Robert Wagner well before I was of legal working age.Him and my mother and the receptionists(I was one of a handful but my time doing that was a few years before the murders took place)of all kinds knew of the family and the kind of company they kept.I am thankful to my mom for not allowing us kids having anything to do with that criminal no hoper.
i went to snowtown with my family in april last year. i can't even describe how cold it felt, you just knew it wasn't right. i felt so icolated from reality and cold.
It's not that bad 😂
I've been SA for 20 years and been in and out of Snowtown.
@@leehamz3885 haha agreed and I took photos of the bank at night, overdramatic much
Never left the city before huh?
Ha ha I’ve been many times and never had an eerie feeling. We’re you on drugs?? 🤦🏽♀️
I hate to sound morbid, but maybe turn it in a little museum/memorial and try bring a little light to such tragedy. Might be good for the town🤷♀️
Amazing! You'd think the locals would of burnt it to the ground .Would be a highlight to there other than ordinary lives .
No snow there! Why the name?
Uncle Nubby the founder of the town was a huge fan of Game of Thrones, one character in particular.
coz it's no town!
i live there and the reasoning of the name was because of the first man to find this part of SA, his last name was 'Snow'.
@@lillyhancock6323 cool
Most of the murders happened in Elizabeth, not Snowtown. Only one victim died there.
I have been many times. And I still will when I’m in the area. It is history and fascinating.
Locals who don’t like the tourists coming through but are happy to go on and do an Interview about.
The town is a ghost town anyways. Couple of nice mural’s across the road, actually the placement was tacky and if they didn’t want people going to the Bank why put them all across the road along with toilet facilities.
Snowtown should be “banking” on the notoriety of it and put a servo or decent shops.
I’m very sympathetic to the Victims and their families.
Are the owners still planing on opening up the bank? 2019 was the interview where they said it might happen soon. RIP to all the souls lost
Anyone remember the Snowtown barrel of laughs t-shirts?
My dad had the magnets
And now its an op shop open to the public with pictures on the wall about the murders
I remember coming back from a fishing trip with a mate and we decided to stop at snowtown pub for a break and when we got out of the car the smell made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, If you have ever smelt that smell you will know what i mean, You just know..... we quised the barman about it but he ignored us? i guess they already knew, The pub was just across the street from the bank.
John Phillips what year?
@@thethrowawaythatstayed7055 I imagine he doesn't want to say. If it was before they were arrested, then those in the pub would be culpable of hiding their crime.
@@starquant Why would i want to troll this??? believe what you want, I wasn't the only one who smelt it, Why do you think the police checked it out?
@@starquant Yeah right they entered the building for no reason, sure thing
@@starquant "They had emitted such a foul odour that his neighbours had complained.
'Where are the barrels now?'
As McCoy asked the question, Jones turned and gestured.
'They're over in the bank.'
McCoy stopped the interview, got out of the car and approached his colleagues.
'I think we've found the bodies."
www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/crime-week-book-extract-snowtown-the-bodies-in-barrels-murders-by-jeremy-pudney/news-story/21f85e0a306d9960ff1048d92d7ac2f9
I thought the title said babies in the barrels and I was like 😰
Another innocent victim. To live in infamy with Port Arthur and other towns such as Littleton, Colorado in the US.
It’s a crime scene
good for tourism
I can’t comprehend why the stigma hasn’t been geared towards the suburb of Salisbury North, which is where the murders took place.
Only a couple of murders happened there. Others occurred in Murray Bridge & one in Snowtown itself 😞
The road is way too busy to stop, lots has been built around where the house was. Plus with the house not being there anymore there really isn’t anything worth going to look at.
Bit of sad thig too remember.
Man that South Australian accent
Can you leave a deposit, while we check ur information , 👀👀💨💨🇨🇮🇨🇮
market capitalise ! make your town a place to scre for fun thats what america would do why not us , jobs created i have croseed 9 times know the area well never stayed in snowtown ! why its off the track but should be able to offer an experience if thats what people want! go with the flow make money ,havent seen a bilboard saying vist here rooms availble foods off the charts just saying lots of competion in the area even for a nights sleep and town visit if i cross i again ill stay the night
5:47 he right I play football there and everyone there are lovey people and we at school use to joke around with people who lived there but really we don’t talk about it
Sux for Snowtown folks
Why exactly? They're businesses are now making money from tourists. No-one ever heard of Snowtown before this. And nobody ever stopped there.
It's not suffering
It became famious. Before that happened. Wounder who had heard of snowtoen
I have been to Snowtown many times growing up with My Poppa. It was known about before!
Dis who made twilliam wallace from Port pirie $outh Oz click and kill kill kill, he hird about dis tasted blood, watch him, and his movements ‽?
are the killers still ALIVE ? Yes, guess murder ain't a crime there anymore.....
Yes.
Mm