‘House of horrors’: Sadistic dog killer’s home finally sold
A rural property where a sadistic dog killer carried out horrendous acts of torture and bestiality has sold after sitting on the market for more than a year.
A rural property in the Northern Territory where a sadistic dog killer carried out horrendous acts of torture and bestiality has sold after sitting on the market for more than a year.
The former home of Adam Britton – a British-born zoologist sentenced to 10 years in prison for the remorseless killing and sexual torture of dozens of pet dogs in Darwin’s rural area – sold for $659,000 in August.
The agent who sold the property at 100 McMinns Drive, McMinns Lagoon, chose not to comment on the sale.
The home was originally listed for sale in June 2024 for $790,000.
The listing stated the 2.02ha property had a Troppo Architect-designed home, a swimming pool and tropical gardens.
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Property records show Britton bought the McMinns Lagoon residence in 2004 for $250,000.
A Darwin real estate expert who asked to not be named said the home sold for below market value, but that was expected given what occurred at the property.
“It’s a house of horrors, so I understand why it took so long to sell,” he said.
“As soon as one person tells you whose house it is, you wouldn’t want to touch it.”
He said a similar house without a horrific backstory would have sold quickly given the high demand for rural homes in the Top End property market.
“I’d be asking for offers over $799,000 in the current market,” he said.
The latest PropTrack Home Price Index showed the median house price in Greater Darwin increased 12.9 per cent year-on-year in October to $643,000.
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Daily Mail reported Britton’s property was bought by a local couple who knew the history of the home.
“We’re a young couple trying to get into the market,” one of the new owners told the Daily Mail.
“We’re aware of what happened, but that’s about the person – not the place.
“History is not going to repeat itself, of course, and I hope others can see that.”
In 2024, Britton’s former wife, Erin, took Tara Brown from 60 Minutes through the property.
“There was so much I loved about that property and it was amazing and it was part of me,” Erin said to Ms Brown as they drove to the then vacant home.
Erin said during the drive it would likely be the last time she visited the rural block.
Erin told Ms Brown she only found out about Britton’s atrocities after he was arrested in 2022.
Police stated the worst offending occurred when Erin was away for work.
Before his abhorrent acts were revealed, Britton was seen as an internationally renowned crocodile expert and at one time hosted David Attenborough during filming of the 2008 documentary, ‘Life in Cold Blood’.
Britton had a 5m saltwater crocodile named Smaug that lived in a croc pen at the McMinns Lagoon property from 2005.
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In September 2023 Britton admitted to running a ‘torture room’ in a shipping container at the McMinns Lagoon property.
He filmed himself sadistically raping, torturing and killing dogs he sourced by promising trusting owners a forever home for their pets.
Britton discussed and shared videos of the acts on the free messenger service Telegram.
Britton pleaded guilty to more than 60 separate offences, including bestiality and animal cruelty, after admitting to raping and killing at least 39 dogs at his McMinns Lagoon property between November 2020 and April 2022.
In August 2024 Britton was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison, with a non-parole period of six years.
In sentencing, Chief Justice Grant said it was “difficult to conceive how any crime of this nature could be more serious”, saying “the suffering of these animals was indescribable”.
“On each occasion the violence inflicted on these animals was severe and usually prolonged, the content of the agreed facts and the descriptions I’ve given in these sentencing remarks illustrate that graphically,” he said.
“The sheer deviance and brutality of your conduct is not satisfactorily encompassed by the bare description that you killed each animal intending to cause its death – you conduct involved so much more than that.
“You used weapons extensively in the course of your activity – including knives, wooden clubs, pliers, bolt cutters, hacksaws and axes – as the Crown has submitted, the clear and unalloyed pleasure that you derived from inflicting this torture is sickeningly evident from the recorded material.
“In addition, your modus operandi was one of devious and careful premeditation and planning, the individuals from whom you procured these dogs thought they were going to a good home and that they would be protected.”
In finding the maximum penalty of two years in prison for each offence was “the only appropriate sentence”, Chief Justice Grant said the offending could “only be properly described as falling within the worst category of offending of this type”.
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Originally published as ‘House of horrors’: Sadistic dog killer’s home finally sold
