1971
The Snowtown murders (also known as the bodies in barrels murders) were a series of murders committed by John Justin Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner, and James Spyridon Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in and around Adelaide, South Australia.
The Snowtown murders (also known as the bodies in barrels murders) were a series of murders committed by John Justin Bunting, Robert Joe Wagner, and James Spyridon Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in and around Adelaide, South Australia. A fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted of helping to dispose of the bodies. The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal history. Most of the bodies were found in barrels in an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown, South Australia, hence the names given in the press for the murders. Only one of the victims was killed in Snowtown, which is approximately 140 kilometres (87 miles) north of Adelaide, and neither the twelve victims nor the three perpetrators were from the town. Although the motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals or "weak". In the case of some victims, the murders were preceded by torture, and efforts were made to appropriate victims' identities, social security payments and bank accounts. Although initially the notoriety of the murders led to a short-term economic boost from tourists visiting Snowtown, it created a stigma, with authorities considering a change of the town's name and identity. The case has been chronicled in numerous books as well as a film adaptation released in 2011 to critical acclaim.
Same nationality and era where possible; falls back to shared nationality or era.
Paul Charles Denyer (born 14 April 1972, known briefly as Paula whilst in prison) is an Australian serial killer currently serving three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 years for the murders of three young women in Melbourne, in 1993.
Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian woman who was convicted of smuggling cannabis into Indonesia.
Katherine Mary Knight (born 24 October 1955) is an Australian murderer and the first woman in the country's history to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Craig Field (born 12 December 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer.
David Matthew Hicks (born 7 August 1975) is an Australian who attended al-Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan.
Julian Paul Assange ( É-SAHNZH; né Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, programmer, and publisher who founded WikiLeaks in 2006.