An accountant by profession, he was convicted in 1984 for the murder of 15-year-old Adelaide teenager Richard Kelvin, the son of local television and radio personality Rob Kelvin. But he didn't commit these crimes on his own. Players - The Family Murders The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. During the 1970s von Einem started developing strategies to lure victims into his car. Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. One victim was killed and dumped within 24 hours, another was kept alive for five weeks, and the rest were in between. 's had discovered the chemical compound chloral hydrate in the system of Alan Barnes, who also had an above-average level of alcohol in his system: roughly four times the legal limit, which was unusually high for a teenager. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. The Family murders: Bevan Spencer von Einem's shocking jailhouse So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area. While police began to investigate who might be responsible for this heinous crime, medical examiners testing the body made a pretty shocking discovery: the presence of drugs in his blood. The Kelvins, though upset at the duration of time that had already passed, understood why the process was so delayed but were hopeful that their son would return home to them, safe and sound. This was commonly found in the drug Noctec, which was an over-the-counter pharmaceutical used to aid people with sleep problems, which had been given to Alan sometime before his death. The Family Murders - Wikipedia However, what wasn't up for debate was the fact that Alan had been violently tortured for hours before his death, with his death ultimately coming from blood loss due to an anal injury. This caller told detectives that a man named Bevan Spencer von Einem was responsible for Alan's death, and his name was added to the list of potential suspects to explore. Ten years von Einem's junior, Mr B helped von Einem pick up, drug, and rape several young men. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. He then explained to the investigator that he was a former lover of Neil's, from roughly four years beforehand, and had run into the man just days before his eventual murder. The medical examiners conducting the autopsy and examinations also discovered that Alan's body had been washed extensively after his death; likely an effort to scrub away any evidence linking him to the killer. Global Nav Open Menu . Unsolved - The Family Murders | Page 148 | BigFooty Forum The two had been dating for about a month now, and Richard had excitedly told his mother that he planned on proposing when his girlfriend and he were nineteen years old. He also happened to be a relative of Robin Millhouse, South Australia's former Attorney General who would become a Supreme Court Justice in 1982. Medical examiners and investigators began to theorize about the rationale for the surgical scar, and the most plausible one to-date is perhaps one of the worst to imagine. Oh, that reminds me. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. If you have information about the case then contact us through our contact page. Meanwhile, the mutilation of Neil Muir's body seemed to be identical to that perpetrated upon Peter Stogneff's remains, whose limbs had been similarly severed with a saw-like device. He had school the next day, dinner was waiting, and he wanted to call his girlfriend. In the days to come, police began asking around the area for any sign of Peter Stogneff and discovered that the teen had essentially vanished into thin air. His head had also been removed from the rest of his body, but was placed in its own separate black trash bag and connected with a rope tie to the rest of the remains. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. The final two - Mark Langley and Richard Kelvin - had disappeared just blocks away from one another. Moments later, George lost consciousness, falling prey to the drugs that he had consumed. For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. A post-mortem examination revealed that Barnes had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. The area around the scar had even been shaved away, implying that this a methodical decision by someone with surgical experience perhaps someone trying to rectify a mistake. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. Wife 'kills family in murder-suicide' - news.com.au The Family Murders Of Adelaide - True Crime Conversations Within hours, Alan's father and grandfather found themselves tagged to identify the remains, which were undoubtedly the remains of their missing 17-year-old. The Family Murders - Strange Matters Podcast Our locations section shows where all the events happened and where all the players lived. When Boris had last seen Richard, walking away from the bus stop down the street from his home, he had still been wearing the collar, and it is has been theorized that the collar itself might have been a trigger for the deviant (or deviants) that ultimately decided to abduct Richard. One such case is the Family Murders of Adelaide, Australia. Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. But the rumors that he engaged in sex work were mainly perpetrated by those that knew him from his regular haunts: members of Adelaide's gay community, who regularly saw Neil at the gay-friendly bars they frequented. Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . See what they say here. (What a lovely country, Australia!) An examination of Richard's body discovered that his cause-of-death was virtually identical to the other young male victims: blood loss caused by extensive anal injuries. Mark had driven there with his family, as they were attending the party alongside him, but he would leave with a couple of friends afterward to hang out and cruise around the city with the young adults trying to squeeze out every bit of the Adelaide summer that they could. [8] The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. Five murders and over 150 rapes. Unfortunately, by the time they returned, Mark was nowhere to be found. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. Some of the employees that worked at the area's bars recalled seeing the two together multiple times that weekend, and other character witnesses described Dr. Millhouse and Neil as being very close friends (intimate, even). Police thought that these gruesome and violent actions had been part of an effort to easily transport Neil's remains out to sea, and dispose of them in a way that they'd degrade before being identified. This young man, Bevan Spencer von Einem - an acquaintance of James' - had helped James make it to shore and then drove him to the nearby Royal Adelaide Hospital. Murdered victims were kept in captivity by the Family for up to five weeks. Allegations would even surface that indicated Dr. Millhouse had been one of the people in the area that supplied Neil with prescription drugs, but that would remain an allegation for the foreseeable future. After a bit, Rob decided to walk home, leaving the two boys at the park; assured that it was just down the street from their house and it was still early in the day. The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders) - Spreaker The older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. This ultimately resulted in a victory for Dr. Peter Millhouse's attorneys, earning the man an acquittal and his freedom. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 5th, 1983, Richard was kicking around a soccer ball with his father Rob and his friend Boris at a park near his home. Once known as the "City of Churches," Adelaide began going through a stark progression in the 1960s. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. He had seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. The Family Murders - Wikipedia When a warrant was eventually served on Dr. Millhouse's cottage in northern Adelaide, police found the same type of trash bags and rope that had been found with Neil Muir's remains. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. After being arrested, Dr. Millhouse had denied ever knowing Neil, and continued stating so over the next year, openly defying the dozens of witness statements that claimed they were acquaintances at the least, intimate friends at the most. According to his family, this was right in-line with Richard's odd sense of humor. Mr B made contact with police two days after Alan Barnes was found. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. The smallness of Adelaide and the six degrees of separation theory became even more evident when it was revealed that one of the Family murder victims was Richard Kelvin, son of a popular Channel . This is made apparent when we look at a story from 1972, which ultimately led to drastic overhauls in Southern Australian law and cemented its place in the nation's history. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. However, they quickly began to narrow in on the one avenue of the investigation that seemed most enticing to them at the time: Neil's dependency on drugs and alcohol. They hoped to use character witnesses to build up the relationship between the two, and then use other eyewitnesses to fill in the rest (the drugs, the sexual relationship, etc.). . Banquet: A Marvelous Book about "The Family Murders" in Adelaide [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. Regardless, this information was incredibly helpful to police, who began to expand their interests to finding people in the area that drove similar vehicles. Unlike other drugs, Mandrax was heavily-regulated, meaning that police could search through government records to find out who had a prescription, and whether or not they appeared on their suspect lists. A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. Neil's numerous tattoos had also been cut away from his flesh, and those patches of inked skin had been placed into his chest cavity along with his severed limbs. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . Father of boat crash victim Mallory Beach snubs Alex Murdaugh's family He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. This triggered a recurrence of his on-again/off-again bout with alcoholism, and within a week, he had checked himself into the Osmond House rehabilitation center but not before consulting with his attorney for any potential legal ramifications. Neil's penis had been cut, and he was missing a testicle at the time of discovery. However, Neil's life was far less glamorous; rumors persist to this day that, leading up to August of 1979, Neil was engaging in sex work to support his bad habits and lifestyle. von Einem is serving life imprisonment. He found like minded people who shared a similar sexual bent, and he found people he could mutually exploit to lure victims into his car. Boris left on a bus, and Richard started making his way back home a trip that was no more than four-hundred meters. He vividly remembered hearing a young voice shout out (which we can assume was Richard) and a group of voices screaming in protest, almost in unison. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved The Family Murders Part Two: The Family As the families of five young men mourned, investigators began to circle around their top suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem. Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. Homosexuality itself would become decriminalized just a few years later, in 1975, with the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, making South Australia the first Australian state or territory where members of the LGBTQ community no longer had to fear government persecution. After all, three of the victims (Alan Barnes, Neil Muir, and Mark Langley) had all died of similar injuries, and at least three (Alan Barnes, Mark Langley, and now Richard Kelvin) had all gone missing on Sundays. It wasn't until the next day, Sunday (February 28th), that Mark's parents began to grow concerned. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. View description Share. It was broad daylight, and both were assured that Alan would easily be able to find a ride to take him the few miles home. He was found wearing most of the clothing he had last been seen in, minus an undershirt and without the chains he often wore around his neck (which contained his zodiac sign, Cancer). The Adelaide Festival of Arts (also known as just Adelaide Festival) started in 1960 and led to something of a "cultural revival" in the area. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. The death of George Duncan would serve as a catalyst, eventually martyring Duncan himself and leading to repeals of South Australia's harsh anti-homosexuality laws. With these results, police were able to successfully link Richard's disappearance and death to at least two prior cases: Alan Barnes and Mark Langley, who had been similarly drugged and sexually assaulted before their deaths. Police wouldn't get around to conducting a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood until Tuesday, two days after Richard had gone missing. Progressive ideas began to spread out from Adelaide, but even then, progress itself was rather slow to catch on throughout large chunks of South Australia. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. Family Murders Are Adelaide's Most Horrific Unsolved Crime - PEDESTRIAN.TV SA convicted murderer Bevan Spencer Von Einem during the jury's tour of North Adelaide dumping spot of Richard Kelvin's body. When police had arrived at the crime scene, they assumed that whoever had tried to dump the body of Alan Barnes had failed, in some way. Some of his strategies were to unscrew his car muffler or pull out his choke and ask an unsuspecting youth to help him with car trouble. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. This meant that his remains had likely been sitting out in the wilderness for about a week. However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office . He had good grades at school, was well-liked by just about everyone, had a stable of trusted friends, and played soccer for a local Lockley club on the weekends. On the final weekend of August 1979, Neil was spotted at both the Duke of York and Buckingham Arms ("The Buck"), two local gay bars that I referenced at the top of the episode. This is an analysis of the information provided by Wendy Roles and Greg McInerney in the book The Family Murders: Dissected The Timeline 25 Aug (Sat) Michael B sees band-aid on Neil's leg at the methadone clinic during the day. But he then set off again, likely headed towards the distant Rundle Mall, where he was due to meet up with his friend, Daniel, that day. If you recall, M.E. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? The Family Murders Of Adelaide. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes,[1] claiming the police were taking action "to break up the happy family". In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. The bodies were found from 24th June 1979 and the fifth and last body on 24th July 1983. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. Of the young men whose stories I'll cover in this episode, he was by far the youngest, and his face showed it: he still had the youthful appearance of a child, and by all accounts, seemed to be your typical teenage boy. Neil had several drug debts throughout Adelaide, and that is where police started their investigation. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. This bore signs of premeditation, implying that this wasn't an impulsive decision, but a conscious one by a killer afraid of being identified through forensic testing. He was seventeen years old, with a youthful, handsome appearance, and a carefree, fun-loving attitude. Because Mark had been killed and his body been dumped in the Australian summer months, his remains had already suffered some serious decomposition by the time police were called to the scene. Gino Gambardella regularly scouted Rundle Mall and video game arcades for runaways, homeless teenagers, and youths who he was able to exploit. Likely, he was one of the people seen hanging out with Neil at the bars and clubs just days that weekend. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. Its always easier to visualise events when you have maps. Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. This period saw the creation of gay clubs in Adelaide (such as a location known as the Mars Bar) and other clubs where all sexualities were welcome (such as the Duke of York or Buckingham Arms, known in the area as "The Buck"). Things then came full circle when he began using heroin again, and shortly thereafter, followed that up with a dependence on Rohypnol ("roofies", commonly known as the date-rape drug). Case 166: The Family - Casefile: True Crime Podcast But he decided to instead head to a local mall, named Tea Tree Plaza, where Peter and his friends often hung out on the weekends. Unfortunately, it did not. Richard Kelvin's disappearance was a slightly higher profile case than the others I've covered so far - due to him being the son of the region's top newscaster - but even then, the investigation was not without fault. A couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. Description. The Butchered Boys of Adelaide. Interview with Homicide Detective Bob O Like the other victims, Richard Kelvin's blood and organs were tested for any sign of drugs, with investigators hoping to find a connection to any of the prior victims. George, an impressionable young man, was enticed by the offer and accepted. Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan, Producers: Maggyjames, Ben Krokum, Roberta Janson, Quil Carter, Peggy Belarde, Laura Hannan, Damion Moore, Amy Hampton, Scott Meesey, Steven Wilson, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Lori Rodriguez, Jessica Yount, Aimee McGregor, Danny Williams, Sue Kirk, Victoria Reid, Sara Moscaritolo, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Seth Morgan, Sydney Scotton, Alyssa Lawton, Kelly Jo Hapgood, Patrick Laakso, Meadow Landry, Rebecca Miller, and Tatum Bautista, Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music, Other music created and composed by Ailsa Traves, Young Bloods: The Story of the Family Murders by Bob OBrien, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Alan Arthur Barnes, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Neil Fredrick Muir, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Peter Stogneff, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Mark Andrew Langley, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Richard Kelvin, The Sydney Morning Herald - Adelaides Duncan case: letting some light shine in, The Sydney Morning Herald - Boys murderer refused High Court appeal, The Sydney Morning Herald - Macabre Adelaide (1), The Sydney Morning Herald - Macabre Adelaide (2), The Sydney Morning Herald - Murderer quizzed on death of youth, The Age - Men fled as Duncan died, court told, The Sydney Morning Herald - The Beaumonts, Kirste and Joanne: the mystery may be over, The Sydney Morning Herald - Witness feared threats to his life, The Age - Court told rape victim thought he would die, The Sydney Morning Herald - Family killings murder charge dropped, The Age - Lock up your sons in the worlds murder capital, The Weekend Australian - How Mother Goose ducked pedophile net, The Advertiser - Police seek von Einem associate, Perth Now - DNA tests for Family murder suspects, The Advertiser - $5M reward bid to solve Family murders, The Sydney Morning Herald - Reward doubled to solve Family murders, The Telegraph - Australian police reopen notorious 1970s Family murders case, The Sydney Morning Herald - Aussie pedophile deported from Indonesia, The Advertiser - Focus on three key suspects, The Advertiser - Revealed: The double life of a magistrate who sought young men, ABC News - Mother Goose sex trial starts in Adelaide, The Advertiser - Mother Goose claims he was set up by gay ex-prostitutes, The Advertiser - Doctor with alleged links to The Family identified as Stephen George Woodards, The Advertiser - Sex-case doctor Stephen George Woodards free to practise, ABC News - Mother Goose acquitted of sex charges, The Advertiser - Paedophile Peter Liddy fears prison attack, ABC News - Former TV entertainer sentenced for sex offences, The Advertiser - Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes murder by The Family, The Daily Mail - Will $13million reward solve the murders of 18 children?