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. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandrax was quickly gaining notoriety as a drug used in the commission of date-rape crimes, and the local government decided that the best way to combat their usage was to keep them regulated so that they had a record of everyone that was prescribed them. The emergence of this drug would prove to be very interesting in the years to come, but at this point in the investigation, police were still struggling to connect all of the dots. South Australia's overdue for another The following Sunday, June 24th - one week after Alan had last been seen alive - a couple of hikers were bushwalking up in the area known as the Adelaide Foothills. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. 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). The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes, claiming the police were taking action to break up the happy family. 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. 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. Investigator Hunter made note of this, finding it odd that one man would have connections to two separate murder investigations - especially two gruesome murders that shared such grisly traits. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. George, an impressionable young man, was enticed by the offer and accepted. This was as good of a tip as police were going to get, and since the most recent victim of this strange killing spree had been found in the Foothills, police decided to follow through on the tip. Several eyewitnesses remembered seeing Alan and his long, blond hair standing along Grand Junction Road that Sunday. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. Mark Andrew Langley RICHARD KELVIN Richard Kelvin, aged 15 years, was abducted at about 6.15 p.m. on Sunday 5 June 1983 from a laneway off Ward Street, North Adelaide. Neil Muir had suffered the same type of anal injuries as Alan, implying that a large, bottle-shaped object had been used to intentionally injure him, which caused a large amount of blood loss. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. If that was true, then could that have been happening to the other young male victims that had been viciously murdered in the preceding years? It has been reported that the exposed skin on his face and neck had begun to wither away, leading to the theory that he had been killed shortly after going missing. 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. The first of which was a very specific call alleging that two men - named Doug and Mark - were responsible for abducting Richard Kelvin. The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. 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. 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. This theory is that whatever item had been used to sexually assault Mark with - which ultimately led to his death - had gotten caught up in his intestines, and required surgery to retrieve. He was the son of Channel 9 News host Rob Kelvin, who had just recently taken over the hosting gig after more than a decade of field reporting through the station and a radio affiliate. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act, which later allowed DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects voluntarily submitted to DNA testing. 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. The convicted killer and notorious head of "The Family" ring who picked up hitchhikers and schoolboys to drug and offer to South Australia's elite to sexually abuse has broken his 20-year silence, to blame his victim, and to claim innocence over other murders. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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". While charges would later be filed against several police officers, they were ultimately acquitted; and it has been widely accepted in the decades since that local law enforcement engaged in a systematic cover-up. A man who donned a balaclava and stormed a man's Adelaide CBD unit, stabbing him within nine seconds, will spend 20 years behind bars. They drove to War Memorial Drive (150m east of the Adelaide Rowing Club ) when Mark had a minor argument with the other male so got out and left. Neil Muir's body had been so badly mutilated that he still barely resembled an entire being. But his teachers recalled him being absent, and hours would pass that afternoon (heading into the evening) and Peter would fail to return home. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. The Butchered Boys: This episode revisits Adelaide's notorious Adelaide Family Murders case, where six young Adelaide men were murdered during the 1970s and '80s. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. In addition to the driver, there appeared to be a couple of other occupants inside of the car that they, unfortunately, could not recall many details of. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. Sadly, almost all of the evidence that may have been left behind was now gone, burned away to ash along with all of Peter's remaining soft tissue. The jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. Some time after they went missing, their bodies would each be found, often horribly mutilated. Both witnesses - who were friends with Neil and drug users themselves - were prepared to testify should this man be tried for the murder. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. Over a span of several years starting in 1979 and into the 80s five young men, aged from 14 to 25, went missing in different areas of Adelaide. George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. Police spoke to Alan's friend, who had left him behind on Grand Junction Road. It was at around this time - the end of August - that Investigator Rod Hunter finally got around to interviewing Bevan Spencer von Einem, the man implicated by an anonymous caller in the murder of Alan Barnes. [15] A post-mortem examination revealed that Muir had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object[16] and Noctec was found in his blood. Police got the number one offender. At the same time he was developing a network of people who made it possible for him to carry out his sexually sadistic fantasies. Rumours of high-society involvement and cover-ups. He had struggled to wean himself off of heroin, using methadone to do so, only to have methadone become his next addiction. But, just like the failure to properly drop Alan's body into the water, these bags had failed to make it to their intended location; still resting against the coast, instead of floating out to sea, where they'd have been lost forever. He had become so messed up on drugs and alcohol that a bouncer had to physically drag him outside of a bar, where he stumbled onto the pavement and struggled to get up. 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. 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. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. It was this rapport that caused Peter to skip school on Thursday, August 27th, 1981. Five murders and over 150 rapes. When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. Police wouldn't get around to conducting a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood until Tuesday, two days after Richard had gone missing. This screening also revealed that the young man had been drugged with Mandrax ("Randy Mandys"), which had resulted in him losing consciousness. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25,[12][13] murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979. Criminologist Alan Perry of the University of Adelaide, has argued that the murders were part of widespread series of kidnappings and sexual assaults of boys that might number several hundred victims in South Australia from about 1973 to 1983.[11]. Likely, he was one of the people seen hanging out with Neil at the bars and clubs just days that weekend. A day or two prior, at least. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. His mother, Judy, would later describe him as being incredibly witty; "cheeky," as she describes in a 2006 documentary, going on to say that Alan was always quick on his feet, and would respond to any type of comment with something sarcastic and bitterly funny. However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. Of only one victim. He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. The Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. But a discovery by the medical examiner seemed to undermine that: in addition to all of this, Neil's genitals had been mutilated by his killer. That was when similar stories of young men being drugged and sexually assaulted began to make waves throughout Australia; young men that had been drugged with similar substances. This reported sighting led police to the notion that a group of people might have been acting in-tandem to abduct Richard, for reasons that appeared nefarious. The police came to this conclusion due to the status of his remains, which weren't nearly as decomposed as they should have been; by the time he was discovered at the end of July, he had been dead for no more than a week or two, despite having gone missing at the beginning of June. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. 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. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? Unlike the other murder victims, however, Mark's body showed an odd sign of surgical precision. Victims - The Family Murders Victims Alan Barnes Feb 12, 2021 The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. If you have information about the case then contact us through our contact page. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. [20] His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. Richard was found wearing the same clothing that he had been wearing on the day of his disappearance, but in an unusual twist, was found to be wearing his family dog's collar. 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. Bevan von Einem had a network of around 25-30 people. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. Oh, that reminds me. Some of the victims were brutally tortured, or horrifically mutilated or cut up. Because of this prime location, Adelaide has become one of the country's most populated areas, and more than a million Australians live in the city itself; which is split in half by the Torrens River, which runs through the center of Adelaide. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. The man that had driven George there offered him a couple of pills called "No-Doz," which - he promised - would help him stay awake to enjoy the party. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. See what they say here. 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. Referred to as a "Randy Mandy" among the era's deviants, Mandrax was a sedative that had just become popular worldwide with the branding "Quaalude." Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. It was speculated that a foreign object had caused the internal perforations, leading to the belief that the killer had been a sexual sadist whose only intent was to cause physical pain. So prosecutors and the police began to build their case around Millhouse without his cooperation, including witness statements that alleged the two had been together the weekend before Neil's violent death. Shockingly, police found an insane combination of sedatives in his system, which included the drugs Noctec, Mandrax, valium, Rohypnol, and amytal. It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. The other murders remain unsolved. The very next day - August 28th, 1979 - a couple of fishermen were heading out to the Port Adelaide River, on what was supposed to be a regular workday for them. This witness would also recall hearing this supposed argument on the street come to a sudden end, punctuated with the sound of a loud exhaust system as a car sped down the street. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. According to his family, this was right in-line with Richard's odd sense of humor. The evidence is contained in a detailed diary kept by a man who was a close associate of several key players in the so-called Family murders. [14][24] His body was found on 24 July by a geologist who was searching for moss-covered rocks near a dirt airstrip at Kersbrook. Little is known about the unidentified man, but Roger James had his ankle broken when he was plunged into the river that May, and was only able to escape with the help of a friendly onlooker. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 25, and most were found to have suffered brutal violence, sexual assaults, and/or body mutilation before their death. 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. In a word, no. Australian police launch appeal to solve string of notorious killings stretching back to 1966, The Advertiser - Doctor found not guilty of Family murder of Neil Muir dies in NSW, Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). The skeletal remains of one victim bore marks to reasonably indicate a similar experience and outcome. This website was built on publicly available information contributed by many people who have an interest in this case. Just a few months later, in June of 1982, the family of missing 14-year-old Peter Stogneff would finally get some resolution. A span of 4 years. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. Examiners discovered that just a few inches above his groin - just below his navel - Mark had a small surgical scar that had been sealed shut with staples and a specific type of Johnson & Johnson surgical tape. George gave police a description of the older man that had picked him up and driven him to the house in question, but he could not remember his name, nor the name of the two women at the house they had traveled to. One such case is the Family Murders of Adelaide, Australia. In May of 1972, three gay men - George Duncan, Roger James, and another man (whose identity has been withheld in the decades since) - were picked up by members of South Australia's police force. Millhouse would have. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is perhaps most well known for its beautiful, scenic landscape, which is wedged in-between the Adelaide Foothills to the east, the coastline that runs along the west and down into the southern cape, and expanse of vast Australia that lies to the north. They phoned police that evening, hoping that their son's whereabouts could be chalked up to a simple miscommunication. 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. 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. Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. The medical examiners would also find a significant head wound on Neil, which wasn't significant enough to have killed him, but would have likely happened to incapacitate or subdue the man. So they tried to safely guard the parts of the investigation that they could. Over the next few days, it became apparent that Alan Barnes was not returning home. He remembered going to a back room of the house to have sex with one of the older women, only to discover - during the act itself - that she was transgender. Like most of the victims targeted by this unknown subject, Richard Kelvin was a young and athletic young man, who seemed destined to have a long and rewarding life. The last victim was the son of our local television newsreader. But other than that, this friend had nothing new to offer police: he hadn't seen or heard from Alan since the two went their separate ways. This section explores his social network. [8] Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrub.[11][19]. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. This group was believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a number of teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of five young men aged between 14 and 25, in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. For a week, his loved ones had been bracing themselves for the worst, but this was a confirmation of everything they had been fearing for the past several days: Alan had been violently murdered, and had spent his final hours in agony. The Family Murders is the name given to the murders of five young men and boys between 1979 and 1983, with all abducted from the streets of Adelaide before being taken to another location,. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers which went to air on 2 March 2009. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. 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. "The Family murders" occurred in the period of time between the late 1970s and 1980s. Just east of Adelaide, this area is well-known to Southern Australians, as it serves as a primary destination for the area's outdoorsmen and women. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. The Family werent an official club or group, rather a loose collection of people with Bevan von Einem at the centre. Also, like the other victims, Mark's cause-of-death seemed to be nearly identical: blood loss from an anal injury, caused by the forced insertion of an unknown item. Police were now back, right where they had started. They wanted to continue eliminating suspects that personally knew Alan ahead of time, but promised to check out von Einem in the future. 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. Because of this lack of clarity, police were unable to press forward with any charges for the offenders, and George's story would become buried by more pressing police concerns in the coming weeks and months. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". Enjoy reading. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. Despite there being an overwhelming lack of physical evidence, police decided to pursue charges against Dr. Millhouse anyways, using the rope and trash bags recovered from his home as their primary building block. 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. Among friends, Alan had begun to smoke weed and experiment with new things, pushing himself to the limits of his comfort zone to discover who he was and what he enjoyed. This has come to be disputed over the years, with some speculating that Alan might have willingly consumed the drug the weekend before his death; or, perhaps, he might have been slipped it by someone at the bars he was rumored to visit with his friends that Saturday. They had no idea that they were about to make one of the most gruesome discoveries in Australian history. It was a group of homosexual men and transgender women who formed a network around convicted murderer and sexual sadist Bevan Spencer von Einem, based on the drugging, raping and sometimes murder of youths and young men. The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. There was a bridge above where his body had been discovered, with a clearing of about a meter; implying that whoever had tried to throw him into the water below had missed the mark, but had not rectified their mistake. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. Description. View description Share. Although there were in excess of 150 youths and young men who were drugged and raped, often by multiple men, this section focuses on the five young men who didnt come 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"). It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. High profile lawyer and murder victim Derrance Stevenson regularly entertained teenage youths. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. Mr B made contact with police two days after Alan Barnes was found. Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. From the outside looking in, von Einem was incredibly average. This conflict has endured because Alan's bloodstream also showed signs of alcohol consumption, which Alan had participated in that same weekend. Eventually, Peter's parents discovered the plot among Peter and his friend to skip school, and conveyed this information to the police - who were just as alarmed as they were.
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