12/06/2026
THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS
I sometimes get people on the tour who have taken the fight to serial killers in some way.
Police investigators, detectives, profilers, etc. I love having them along.
There are too many serial killer fanboys, groupie girls, and edgelords out there, so my motto is: ‘Serial killers, seriously’.
The woman in the photo came on the tour a couple of nights ago and informed me within a minute of our meeting, that Adelaide is, per capita, the serial killer capital of Australia. That’s my type of fact!
Due to her background in forensic psychiatry & years of work in social services protecting abused children, this woman was there when John Bunting was interviewed in Yatala prison, South Australia.
Tiny and possessing dark, empathy-less eyes, Bunting was the driving force behind the horrendous Australian ‘Snowtown’ murders from 1992-1999, in which he and his disciples – he had a cult-like hold over them - sadistically tortured and killed 11 people they believed to be paedophiles, or gay, or just different in some way Bunting did not like.
Oh, and Bunting’s ex-girlfriend was also found dead and buried in his backyard but since it could not be proved she was murdered, she’s not officially one of the victims.
Victims’ bodies were stored in barrels in a disused bank vault, and the case became known as ‘The Bodies in the Barrels murders’.
Incidentally, I’ve also had on my tour, on a different occasion, the man who opened the barrels and made the discovery!
Bunting posed as someone concerned with doling out social justice - UK serial killer Peter Sutcliffe also masqueraded as a social reformer - but when you read the accounts of the sadistic torture and murder sessions Bunting organised, they are both heart-breaking and truly revolting.
Bunting received 11 consecutive life sentences without parole.
My new Australian friend said he’s still very scary even after 22 years in prison, and has almost a malign grip on Yatala. She said that when you are around him, the temperature literally becomes colder, and I don’t doubt it...
