10 Most Evil People in Australian History

Peter Dupas

Throughout his adult life, Sydney-born serial killer Peter Dupas spent more time in prison than out of it, as a result of his horrific crimes. Dupas was only a teenager when he received his first conviction for brutally attacking his neighbor with a knife. In his adulthood, he carried out a string of assaults that landed him in prison between 1974 and 1996. He was known to regress back into crimes every time he regained his freedom. In 1999, Dupas posed as a client and killed Nicole Patterson, a therapist, in her home office, then severely mutilated her body afterwards. While serving a life term for Patterson’s murder, he was convicted of two 1997 murders that bagged him additional life sentences.

Jean Lee

The last Australian woman to face execution, Jean Lee, alongside Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews, murdered 73-year-old William Kent in his Melbourne home. The three encountered Kent at a hotel and went home with him after observing him with a lot of cash. Following several unsuccessful attempts by Lee to steal the money, she broke a bottle on Kent’s head and beat him with the leg of a broken chair. With no other cash found in his house, Clayton and Andrews tortured Kent and eventually strangled him to death. Kent’s neighbors, who had heard suspicious sounds coming from his house, called the police who were able to hunt the three killers down. They were all convicted and sent to their early graves by the state.

Eric Edgar Cooke

Born in Perth in 1931, Eric Edgar Cooke had a troubled childhood. He grew up in a violent household and was constantly made fun of in all the schools he attended. This left him isolated and emotionally stunted. Cooke’s life of crimes first began with petty thefts and burglaries, before quickly escalating to more serious offenses like arson and murder. Between 1959 and 1963, he reigned terror on Perth, killing eight people in a seemingly random spree. Not only did Cooke use different methods, but his victims were so dissimilar that authorities wrongfully convicted other men for two of his crimes. He was finally arrested in 1963 and gave a detailed confession to police, resulting in his conviction and eventual execution.

John Wayne Glover

Dubbed “The Granny Killer,” John Wayne Glover claimed the lives of at least six elderly women in New South Wales. Glover was born in Wolverhampton, England, but moved to Australia in his 20s, where he became a naturalized citizen. Despite having a criminal background, Glover was largely seen as an honest family man with a pretty normal life. However, behind the facade, Glover was attacking elderly women in the area, some of whom he assaulted, robbed and killed. He reportedly had a turbulent relationship with the older women in his life, which would explain his choice of victims. Glover was apprehended after killing his sixth known victim and locked up for life. In 2005, he took the easy way out in his prison cell.

Martha Needle

Between 1885 and 1894, Martha Needle poisoned and killed five people, including her immediate family and her fiancé’s brother. Needle’s first marriage was in 1882 to Henry Needle, the father of her three children who was reportedly violent towards her. By 1890, Henry and their three daughters - Mabel, Elsie and May - had died of strange illnesses that confounded doctors. The family’s life insurance money was collected by Needle, who soon began a relationship with a businessman named Otto Juncken. Needle also poisoned and killed Juncken’s brother Louis, but was caught after attempting to do the same to his other brother Herman. Although she maintained her innocence throughout, Needle was convicted following a three-day trial and executed at the Old Melbourne Gaol.

The Snowtown Murderers

Arguably one of the most infamous criminal cases in Australian history, the Snowtown murders refer to 12 deaths that occurred in and around Adelaide in the ‘90s. In 1999, police discovered eight bodies in plastic barrels that had been disposed of in Snowtown, South Australia. The crimes were eventually traced to John Bunting, an abattoir worker in whose backyard two more bodies were found. Bunting was the ringleader of a trio including Robert Wagner and James Vlassakis, who were reportedly fuelled by a hatred for predators and gay people. After a lengthy and highly publicized trial, Bunting and Wagner were sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Vlassakis testified for the prosecution, hence, his life sentence came with parole eligibility after 26 years.

Katherine Knight

Having grown up in a dysfunctional family, Katherine Knight witnessed domestic violence from an early age. Knight soon became a pretty violent person herself, engaging in fights with her first husband, who eventually left her. She then began an equally violent relationship with John Price, who ended up kicking her out of his house. Knight, however, returned on February 29th 2000 with despicable intentions. She stabbed Price repeatedly before mutilating his corpse and cooking bits of his body, intending to serve it as dinner to his children. Police nabbed Knight at the house in an unconscious state and placed her under arrest. She became the first woman in Australia to ever receive a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

Martin Bryant

Still the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history, the Port Arthur massacre resulted in the deaths of 35 people. The perpetrator was Martin Bryant, a mentally distressed young man who lost both his friend and father, and reportedly wanted to do something that would garner him significant attention. On April 28th 1996, Bryant took two semi-automatic rifles and first gunned down a couple who purchased a bed-and-breakfast his father wanted to buy. He then proceeded to the Port Arthur Historic Site, where he carried out the majority of his crimes, claiming many lives in mere seconds. In addition to sending Bryant to prison for the rest of his life, the incident also resulted in landmark changes to Australia’s national gun laws.

Ivan Milat

When police discovered multiple human remains at the Belanglo State Forest, they feared a serial killer might be on the loose. By November 1993, they had unearthed a total of seven bodies, all of whom were young backpackers hitchhiking along the Hume Highway. Their fears were confirmed after the murders were linked to a truck driver named Ivan Milat by a British man who nearly fell victim to him. Milat, who had reportedly exhibited psychopathic behavior from an early age, maintained his innocence all through his arrest, arraignment and trial. Nevertheless, he was found guilty of all seven murders and locked up for life. In 2019, Milat was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and passed away in prison a few months later.

John & Sarah Makin

Back in the Victorian era, baby farming was a common practice in which a person agreed to take care of other people’s typically illegitimate children for a fee. This was how New South Wales couple John and Sarah Makin began earning money when John was incapacitated following a serious accident. However, after collecting payments, the Makins ended the children’s lives and buried them in their backyards. In October 1892, two workmen discovered human remains behind the Makins’ former house. When additional corpses were found in other surrounding areas of their previous residencies, authorities turned to the Makins. They were eventually found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. While John was ultimately executed, Sarah’s sentence was later commuted to a life term.