30 Mar

the family murders adelaide victims

Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. Unsolved - The Family Murders | Page 148 | BigFooty Forum He had seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. 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. This argument would carry on for a few minutes, while the trio was parked along War Memorial Drive, overlooking the Torrens River. 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. Oh, that reminds me. This screening also revealed that the young man had been drugged with Mandrax ("Randy Mandys"), which had resulted in him losing consciousness. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. Police spoke to Alan's friend, who had left him behind on Grand Junction Road. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. The following morning, however, is a different story. 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. Subsequent efforts to reach Alan through his friends had failed, and none of them had seen him since the weekend. 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. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. Neil's penis had been cut, and he was missing a testicle at the time of discovery. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. [4][5] In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of two other victims, Barnes and Langley, but the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi (voluntarily discontinue criminal charges) during the trial when crucial similar fact evidence was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. Hours would begin to pass, and Alan would fail to return home at all that Sunday. 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. 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 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 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. While searching, they ended up discovering the body of Richard Kelvin, who had been missing for just shy of two months. 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. The Family Murders - 5 Teen Boys Raped, Tortured, And Killed South Australia's overdue for another Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. Rather than have to read the whole site, or miss updates in the case because you dont know they exist, this section will show time-stamped updates so you can keep up to date with developments. That evening, as Mark drove around with his friend Ian and Ian's girlfriend, Paula, an argument broke out. 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. He had school the next day, dinner was waiting, and he wanted to call his girlfriend. He had been sexually assaulted and went on to report this bizarre, terrifying incident to police. Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. He had been killed elsewhere and then transported to this location postmortem, implying that the killer had a base of operations for his or her dark deeds. During the 1970s von Einem started developing strategies to lure victims into his car. Some were involved in the abduction of victims who were murdered, some were involved in the rape of murdered victims, and some were involved in murder. 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. 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. 1979: The Family (1 year) 1999: Snowtown murders discovered (20 years) As of 2021, this is the longest Adelaide has gone without a crime that has made national or international headlines as either a weird case (Somerton Man), child kidnapping or brutal serial killings since WWII. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. While working for Major Crimes, Investigator O'Brien received an anonymous tip that Richard Kelvin was being held against his will in a caravan in the Adelaide Foothills. Lock up your sons in the world's murder capital Gino Gambardella regularly scouted Rundle Mall and video game arcades for runaways, homeless teenagers, and youths who he was able to exploit. 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. The Family Murders are a series of violent and depraved sex crimes committed against five young men and boys in South Australia throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In 1988 Detective Trevor Kipling described a group of people whom he suspected as being responsible as "one big happy family" and vowed to do all that he could to bring them to justice. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). Case 166: The Family - Casefile: True Crime Podcast They knew then that the description of the remains - should it become public knowledge - would alert a lot of media to the story and scare a lot of people. Victims - The Family Murders Because homosexuality was still outlawed in Australia at this point, Vice officers would often detain individuals that they believed were loitering nearby known gay hotspots. When they finally got around to doing this, after the discovery of Richard Kelvin's body, one name popped out at them. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. Both witnesses - who were friends with Neil and drug users themselves - were prepared to testify should this man be tried for the murder. However, unlike many of the others, it was believed that Richard had been held captive for an extended period of time, enduring torture and sexual abuse for weeks leading up to his death. He was seventeen years old, with a youthful, handsome appearance, and a carefree, fun-loving attitude. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. 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. 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". Kelvin was held captive for approximately five weeks[24] and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury,[25] likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. While changes in Southern Australia's draconian laws had decriminalized homosexuality, there were still people eager to prey on or harass gay men and women - behavior that lingers to this day. 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. The Family Murders in South Australia : r/UnresolvedMysteries Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. 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 Family Murders is the name given to a series of five sadistic murders committed by a loosely connected group of individuals who came to be known as The Family. [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. Wife 'kills family in murder-suicide' - news.com.au The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. By the time they managed to look outside, whoever had been outside had already sped off. 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. These individuals have come to be known as the "The Family" and are believed to have kidnapped and sexually abused over 150 boys and are believed to have tortured and murdered at least five teenage boys during a crime spree in Adelaide, South Australia. 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. They organized a helicopter search of the area, which O'Brien was present for, but unfortunately, the police were unable to find anything definitive. A farmer that lived nearby Middle Beach and Two Wells, roughly an hour north of Adelaide, had been cleansing his farmland during the advised winter months. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. 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. Our locations section shows where all the events happened and where all the players lived. 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. It wasn't until Monday morning that Alan's parents decided to contact the police, having not seen him for several days. The Family Murders revolved around von Einem. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. But now, they needed to find a suspect. 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. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. There was not much to connect them, other than the graphic sexual nature of the crimes, and months would continue to pass before this story would begin to surface again in the public eye. Unfortunately, it would later be determined that he would suffer in anguish for weeks before meeting eventually dying more than a month after his initial disappearance. 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 Family Murders - Wikipedia 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). Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25,[12][13] murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. It was the body of Neil Muir or, rather, what remained of him. 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. [2] The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively [having] sought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? On July 24th, 1983, a family was out looking for moss rocks in the vast reaches of the Mount Crawford Forest, about 35 kilometers northeast of Adelaide. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. 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 admitted that he'd faced some issues with other kids at his school, but he was otherwise happy and had just gotten a serious girlfriend. He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. He was in G Block of Yatala Prison for decades but was transferred to Port Augusta Prison in the north of the state in 2007. When using other people (sometimes transgenders, sometimes cross-dressers, and sometimes Mr B), a common ploy was to ask a lone youth if he want to go to a party where there was plenty of booze and women. When Dr. Millhouse's trial eventually commenced in the latter half of 1980 - more than a year after Neil Muir's murder - the prosecution continued to rely heavily upon their circumstantial evidence and witness statements, failing to establish any motive for the crime or provide any definitive evidence. 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. Global Nav Open Menu . While the men in the river struggled to make it back to the shore, the group that had thrown them into the water made their escape before camera crews or onlookers could begin to gather. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. Unfortunately, as the farmer's land burned, so did the remains of the missing teenager. Bevan Spencer von Einem is serving a life sentence for one of those murders. On Saturday, February 27th, 1982, Mark attended a friend's 18th birthday party in Windsor Gardens, a neighborhood in northeastern Adelaide. The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. Ten years von Einem's junior, Mr B helped von Einem pick up, drug, and rape several young men. 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. 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,. Mr B made contact with police two days after Alan Barnes was found. 4 had horrific injuries with clear signs of torture, abuse and confinement lasting up to 5 weeks. 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. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. Its always easier to visualise events when you have maps. A witness says she saw Stogneff at Tea Tree Plaza with someone matching Noel Brook's appearance. Mark Langley attended party in Windsor Gardens but left with a male and female. Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. 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. Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. In August of 1979, Neil was living alone in an apartment on Carrington Street, right in the middle of Adelaide itself. [6] Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction. From the outside looking in, von Einem was incredibly average. Alan Barnes was a teenager growing up in this environment, who seemed to live on the bubble between childhood and adulthood in the winter of 1979. 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. 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. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. 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. Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. [14][15] Skin bearing tattoos had been removed and most of the body parts were placed in another garbage bag before being placed within the abdominal cavity. Following the supposed abduction of Richard Kelvin, the police unit known as Major Crimes was tasked with overseeing the investigation. The male and female drove off but returned At about 6pm on a Sunday afternoon, Richard walked his friend to the bus stop on O'Connell St, North Adelaide. The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. In particular, they were members of the Vice Squad, who typically crackdown on "moral" crimes such as gambling, narcotics, pornography, and illegal substances. In the days after Neil Muir's body was discovered in separate black trash bags, police had received two separate phone calls alerting them to the victim's relationship with a local doctor. It had been reported that Richard was wearing the collar as a joke on the afternoon he went missing, while he was kicking around the soccer ball in the park with his dad and his friend, Boris. Australia's murder capital: Why can't Adelaide bury the myth? The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. Richard and Boris remained at the park for a bit longer, kicking around the soccer ball and chatting, before eventually, Boris decided to make his way home. 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. They tried to hitch a ride on Grand Junction Road, a busy thoroughfare in Adelaide, before realizing that they were going to have no luck hitchhiking together. Mark Langley March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. Police got the number one offender. 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. 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. He was also found to be wearing clothing that did not belong to him, and his original clothing was missing entirely. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. A cold case review was opened in March 2008 with a $1,000,000 reward available for anyone who provided information leading to a conviction. He never made it home. 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]. 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? Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. This was done in a different method to what had happened to Neil Muir's remains, but medical examiners were able to identify points in the bones just above the knees and the back where a saw had carved the body into pieces. The Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. High profile lawyer and murder victim Derrance Stevenson regularly entertained teenage youths. Shockingly, police found an insane combination of sedatives in his system, which included the drugs Noctec, Mandrax, valium, Rohypnol, and amytal. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. 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. 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. Banquet: A Marvelous Book about "The Family Murders" in Adelaide Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord.