David Johnson

**David Johnson** (May 1975 - May 9, 1999) was an Australian man who was killed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner and Jamie Vlassakis.

## Backstory

John Bunting, driven to murder by his hatred for paedophiles and homosexuals, has been described as a skilled manipulator of people and "Australia's worst serial killer". Bunting had fashioned a "rock spider wall" on a wall of a spare room in his house. The chart, created using paper notes and wool, was an interconnected web of names of people Bunting suspected to be paedophiles or homosexuals.

Bunting met Robert Wagner when he moved to Waterloo Corner Road. Wagner was living with Vanessa Lane (formerly Barry Lane) at the time. Wagner assisted Bunting in disposing of the body of his first victim, Clinton Trezise. Wagner later assisted Bunting in the remaining ten Snowtown murders.

Jamie Vlassakis met John Bunting when aged fourteen and looked up to Bunting as a father figure. It was alleged Bunting groomed Vlassakis into committing serial murders.

Johnson was Vlassakis' step-brother. Bunting didn't like him because he was fastidious with his cleanliness and appearance and in Bunting's mind, a "yuppie", Bunting would often refer to him as a "faggot" and say he needed to die.

## Events

It had been almost six months since the last murder and Bunting began talking about "getting" Johnson and suggested that Vlassakis find a way to get him to the bank in Snowtown. On May 9, 1999 Vlassakis told Johnson that there was a computer for sale cheap in Snowtown and he agreed to go with Vlassakis to buy it. He was seized as soon as he entered the building and the ritual of beatings, torture and voice recording began. Bunting also played his Voices from the Dead mix tape.

After getting his ATM details, Wagner and Vlassakis now took Johnson's ATM card to a roadhouse in Port Wakefield to withdraw some cash but the machine printed out a message saying "Not authorized. Cancelled" and they returned to Snowtown where Bunting assumed the account had no money in it. Johnson was already dead and Bunting explained that he had gotten free and threatened him with a knife so he had no choice but to overpower and kill him. Wagner cut a piece of flesh from Johnson's body and the trio later returned to Adelaide where Wagner and Bunting cooked and ate the flesh. Johnson was the only victim who died in Snowtown.

## Aftermath

The Supreme Court trial for John Bunting began on 14 October 2002. He was convicted of eleven murders and found guilty on 8 September 2003. He was sentenced to 11 life sentences without the possibility of parole and is incarcerated at Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide.

Robert Wagner was found guilty of ten counts of murder. He was sentenced to 10 life sentences without the possibility of parole and has been incarcerated since 2003.

Jamie Vlassakis is currently serving four consecutive terms of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 26 years for his role in the Snowtown murders. Vlassakis confessed to four murders, including the murder of his stepbrother, David Johnson and half-brother Troy Youde as well as the murders of Gary O'Dwyer and Frederick Brooks.

## Other Victims of the Snowtown Murders

* Clinton Trezise, aged 22
* Ray Davies, aged 26
* Vanessa Lane, aged 42
* Michelle Gardiner, aged 19
* Thomas Trevilyan, aged 18
* Gavin Porter, aged 31
* Troy Youde, aged 21
* Frederick Brooks, aged 18
* Gary O'Dwyer, aged 29
* Elizabeth Haydon, aged 37