Adelaide is 'the murder capital of the world.' At least, that is what it has been dubbed by the UK Channel 4 programme, The Trials of Joanne Lees. Interestingly, Adelaide is also known as the City of Churches. Not surprisingly many South Australians were upset by this new title and several MPs made formal requests for the programme to be cancelled. A written apology was issued and the offending portions of the programme were removed.
Although Adelaide does not have anywhere near as many murders per capita as such cities as New York City or Los Angeles, it has been home to some of the most bizarre and memorable murders of recent history. One of the most infamous is the Snowtown murders, where a number of bodies were found in barrels in a disused bank vault in Snowtown.
While most South Australians consider these claims to be preposterous, a prominent criminologist, Alan Perry, has caused a large outcry by saying of serial killers that:
I think that in SA, because of our far more provincial and insular social structure, it does create something of a social hothouse effect that encourages the breeding of these type of people, where in a more dynamic and vibrant social environment they would find it harder to exist.
Infamous Adelaideans include: