Bodies in the Barrels: More Serial Killers of Australia

I just finished the second book of my extensive research into the famous serial killers of Australia. Don't worry, there are not too many more out there.

In the mid-90's a psychopath named John Bunting convinced two of his friends and eventually his heroin addicted step-son to join him on a twelve body killing spree. Nearly all of the killers were victims of childhood sexual abuse, so they had a particular hatred against pedophiles. Unfortunately, they were so crazy that nearly everyone was given such a label, including drug addicts, homosexual, fat wives, and anybody else they didn't like. John Bunting had a giant hit list that he'd compiled for years and they just went out and whittled the list down.

These weren't random people either. They killed stepsons, friends of the family, wives, lovers, and neighbors. This is particularly scary, because such relationships should give protection from murder.

At first, they buried the bodies in the back yard and poured concrete over them. Sadly, this wasn't disgusting enough for them. So they started torturing their victims to death, then mutilated the corpses, and in some cases ate them. The left-overs were tossed in giant metal barrels for maximum putrefaction. John Bunting had no sense of smell, so he wasn't really bothered by the rotting corpses piling up. They transferred the barrels to an empty bank vault in Snowtown, South Australia. (Spawning such favorite jokes as "Q: Why is it so hard to get a loan in Snowtown? A:It costs an arm and a leg!" Knee slaps, fake chortles, walking away ensues).

These were low-income people mostly, living on welfare. So after the murders, they would stage fake falling outs and abrupt moves for the victims, then cash the government checks (or cheques as they spell it here). This led the police to them. Sadly, due to some muck ups, they were still able to knock a couple more people off while under surveillance.

Finally, the police followed a car to Snowtown where the found the bodies. Now they are all in jail forever.

For those who would like to learn more about the Bodies in the Barrels murders, check out the book, Killing for Pleasure. It is a very difficult book to read, not for the squemish, but I was hooked for most of it. http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Pleasure-Debi-Marshall/dp/1740512480/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225582787&sr=8-1