Twelve people were killed in South Australia by a group of offenders.
Updated 20 Aug 2026
A group led by John Bunting targeted people in and around Adelaide over several years. Victims were isolated, abused, killed, and financially exploited. [1]
Police discovered eight bodies in barrels inside a disused Snowtown bank in May 1999. Four men were convicted in connection with the killings, with different levels of responsibility. [2]
7 sourced milestones
Major events in the case, shown in chronological order.
A group led by John Bunting targeted and killed people in and around Adelaide over a period of several years.
Source: Wikipedia ↗Investigators discovered eight bodies in barrels inside a disused bank building, exposing the wider series of crimes.
Source: Wikipedia ↗Proceedings against John Bunting and Robert Wagner began in the Supreme Court of South Australia and became the state's longest criminal trial.
Source: ABC News ↗A jury convicted Bunting of eleven murders and Wagner of seven, in addition to three murders to which Wagner had already pleaded guilty.
Source: ABC News ↗The court imposed multiple life sentences and declined to set non-parole periods for Bunting and Wagner.
Source: ABC News ↗South Australia's Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Bunting and Wagner's challenges to their convictions.
Source: ABC News ↗Prosecutors declined to retry the unresolved charge relating to Suzanne Allen, bringing the remaining Snowtown prosecution to an end.
Source: ABC News ↗0 videos
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