The Snowtown Murders The Snowtown Murders, also known as the ‘Bodies in the Barrel Murders’, were a spate of grisly killings that occurred between August 1992 and May 1999 in South Australia. The crimes were committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner, and James Vlassakis, with a fourth person, Mark Haydon, convicted guilty of helping to dispose the bodies. John Bunting, the violent ringleader, and Robert Wagner were both sentenced to life in prison with the presiding judge, Justice Brian Martin, saying that the accused were &quot;in the business of killing for pleasure&quot; and were &quot;incapable of true rehabilitation&quot;.