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1992: The First Victim of the Snowtown Bodies in Barrels Killers

In August 1992, John Justin Bunting bashed the first of what would become twelve murder victims to death with a hammer at his home in Salisbury North, north of Adelaide. Bunting, a former abattoir worker filled with deep hatred, led a cell of killers that included Robert Joe Wagner and James Vlassakis, operating across South Australia between 1992 and 1999.

The murders became known as the Snowtown or Bodies in Barrels case after eight of the twelve victims were found sealed in acid-filled barrels inside an abandoned bank vault in Snowtown, 140 kilometres north of Adelaide. The trial was among the longest and most publicised in Australian legal history, ending with Bunting and Wagner convicted of multiple murders and Vlassakis, who confessed to four killings and testified for the Crown, receiving a lesser sentence.

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Adelaide Australia Murder Organised Crime SA Salisbury North Serial Killer Snowtown Trial

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1915: Brides in the Bath Killer Hanged at Maidstone Prison

George Joseph Smith, operating under aliases including Henry Williams and John Lloyd, was convicted of drowning three women in their baths after marrying them bigamously and insuring their lives. His victims were Bessie Mundy, found dead at Herne Bay in 1912; Alice Burnham, drowned at Blackpool in December 1913; and Margaret Lofty, found dead in her bath at Highgate in December 1914. Each death was initially recorded as accidental, but Divisional Detective Inspector Neil and pathologist Dr Bernard Spilsbury determined that accidental drowning in any of those baths was effectively impossible.

Smith was tried in 1915, convicted of all three murders, and hanged at Maidstone Prison by executioner John Ellis on 13 August 1915.

Smith protested his innocence to the end.

George Joseph Smith Brides in the Bath murderer in the dock

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Blackpool England Europe Execution Fraud London Maidstone Murder Poisoning Serial Killer Trial UK

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1949: The Acid Bath Murderer: John Haigh Hanged for Six Killings

John George Haigh was an English serial killer who battered or shot his victims, then dissolved their bodies in sulphuric acid to erase all evidence. He forged his victims' signatures to sell their possessions and collect large sums of money, a scheme he had refined through years of fraud and multiple prison terms. Though convicted of six murders, Haigh claimed to have killed nine.

Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and raised in Yorkshire by strict Plymouth Brethren parents, Haigh drifted from fraud into murder after becoming fascinated by French killer Georges-Alexandre Sarret, who had used acid to dispose of bodies. He was arrested in 1949 after police connected him to the disappearance of a widow whose remains, including gallstones and false teeth, survived the acid and were found at his workshop in Crawley, Sussex. Haigh was convicted at Lewes Assizes and hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 10 August 1949.

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England Execution Fraud London Murder Organised Crime Serial Killer Sussex UK Yorkshire

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1977: A Parking Ticket Brings Down the Son of Sam

David Berkowitz, a 24-year-old postal clerk from Yonkers, was arrested and charged as the Son of Sam, the .44-caliber killer who had terrorised New York City across 13 victims and more than a year of terror. The break came not from the massive task force that had spent several million dollars and chased hundreds of suspects, including a priest, freelance journalists, and ex-cops, but from a $35 parking ticket issued by Officer Michael Cataneo on the morning of July 31, 1977, the same night Berkowitz claimed his final victim. The ticket was traced to his 1970 Ford Galaxie.

Neighbours in Yonkers had long suspected something was wrong. Sam Carr, who lived on the street behind Berkowitz, believed Berkowitz had shot his black dog Harvey and had complained to police just days before the arrest. Berkowitz later claimed Harvey the dog had issued him mysterious commands to kill. After more than a year of dead ends, the Son of Sam was undone by a piece of cardboard.

Parking ticket placed on a car windscreen close-up

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Arrest Investigation Murder New York Police Serial Killer USA

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