Snowtown Murders: 'Bodies in the Barrels'

These Seven News reports take place as the case of Australia's worst serial killings unfolds. The reporter is on the scene as police and forensic investigators undertake a massive search for more victims of four men arrested and charged with the torture and murder of 12 people between 1992 and 1999. 

In May 1999, the remains of eight individuals were discovered in an unused bank vault. They had been stored in barrels filled with acid. More remains were found buried in the backyard of a house occupied by one of the men charged. 

The murders happened in various locations around Adelaide and the bodies were later moved to Snowtown. None of the victims were local residents of Snowtown. Many victims were first tortured and forced to give up their bank account details and some were receiving welfare benefits that the killers continued to claim after the murders.

During the search, a large contingent of police officers gathered, along with members of the media, as the enormity of this case was exposed. 

Four men were arrested and convicted of the murders and the ringleader was identified as John Justin Bunting. It is interesting to note that, although the men are named in this news bulletin, their faces are pixelated, which was a shift in how suspects had been treated in the media previously.